


Swallowing Up The Sky

by Lula_Landry



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Age Difference, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anal Sex, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Blow Jobs, College Student Rey (Star Wars), Cunnilingus, Dominant Kylo Ren, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, First Time, Happy Ending, Knotting, Light Bondage, Love at First Sight, Mating Cycles/In Heat, One Big Happy Family, Praise Kink, Public Sex, Sexual Tension, Shameless Smut, Sisters, Soulmates, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:14:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 51,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27382513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lula_Landry/pseuds/Lula_Landry
Summary: Rey Niima needs help. Her legal guardian has died and according to the laws of the land another Alpha must step into the role or Rey and her Omega sisters will be separated and sent to different foster homes. If only she was of age, but her birthday is still three months away and by then the life she has known will be destroyed. To save her family, Rey goes looking for the one thing she knows she can never trust- an Alpha male.Ben Solo has sworn off relationships with all Omegas. He hates the designated world he lives in, even though as an Alpha it’s skewed in his favour. There is darkness inside him he cannot control and the last thing he wants is to be placed in charge of five underage Omega females and their pheromone clouds. Despite himself, Ben finds that desire is a powerful motivator.“I want to be the one you didn’t see coming.” — Lang Leav
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 68
Kudos: 377





	1. It's Not Simple To Say

He scented her before he saw her.

Ben Solo lounged in his usual seat at the club, a booth that placed him in the midst of the action. If money talked then Ben’s wallet shouted to the rooftops. It gave him access to things other people only dreamed of, and this, the VIP area at Club Domination, was as exclusive as it got.

The expansive room had plush black carpets and soundproofed black walls. A deejay played music that could be felt in the pit of his stomach and light fixtures dripped down from a high ceiling like a thousand glass corkscrews, bathing the space in an ethereal violet shimmer. The bar was a brushed gold curve, it’s impressive array of bottles backlit by more purple lights. His seat was covered in black velvet, the tabletop shining gold. It was luxury and comfort all in one, but Ben didn’t come to Domination for the drinks or décor. 

No, he was here for one thing only. Relief. 

On the stage before him pranced girls so gorgeous they could have chosen a career in professional modelling were they so inclined. They displayed razor sharp cheekbones and pillowy lips, legs like gazelles and gravity defying breasts. Bazine had yet to take the stage, but then the club’s manager Mitaka knew how to tease his patrons. Baz was the main event and for her they would have to wait.

Ben glanced around and not for the first time wondered how he’d arrived there- alone and waiting on a professional to satisfy his needs. He didn’t notice the gawkers look away before they were caught staring. He was used to the attention.

Paparazzi swarmed the club’s entrance, making their living by peddling photos of Ben to gossip columnists who then speculated on his choice of hangout. Despite its name, Club Domination catered to all who were able to afford their exorbitant cover charge and overpriced liquor, regardless of whether one was Alpha, Beta or (as unlikely as it seemed) Omega. Didn’t it make more sense for Ben Solo, billionaire shipping magnate and bachelor extraordinaire, to seek membership in an Alpha exclusive enclave?

Ben understood the confusion about his choices. For all intents and purposes, he was the classical Alpha- tall, broad and heavily muscled, hot tempered and quick thinking, arrogant and driven. He was also rich and successful, which should have fed into his Alpha centric ego and its corresponding demands. Then why, oh why was his romantic life a battle zone of short-lived liaisons with Beta females?

It was true the women he went out with were gorgeous to look upon, predominantly blonde (one memorable date dyed her hair after discovering his predilection), and successful in their own way, whether actresses, pop stars or socialites. But there wasn’t a single Omega to be found in the mix. 

It was a well known fact that Ben eschewed the companionship of Omega females, though the reason behind his decision was shrouded in mystery. The gossip rags hinted at past heartbreak but they had it wrong. Ben admitted to himself it wasn’t that he didn’t like Omegas; rather, he liked them too much. He didn’t trust himself around an Omega female, hating what he became when intoxicated by their pheromones. He preferred self-control to animalistic urges around a creature he could choose to avoid.

Naturally, there were downsides to the way he lived his life. It had been years since he’d popped a knot while having sex. No matter how exquisite the Beta female in question they couldn’t stimulate him the same way an Omega would, but as long as he was nominally satisfied he didn’t see why that mattered. As for his annual heats, Ben had access to the best suppressants money could buy, cutting edge pharmaceuticals that made his week-long ruts almost bearable. Almost. 

Nothing was able to dent his sex drive; not his long work hours or exhaustive travel schedule, his time in the gym or playing basketball with the guys. As soon as he had a second to breathe, his densely muscled body ached to copulate, to pour his Alpha seed into the womb of whichever willing female would have him. He felt shackled by his own desires, but the good thing about being Ben Solo was that he attracted a never-ending stream of beautiful women willing to take off their clothes at his say so.

As if on cue, Mitaka’s excited tenor broke through his musings to announce the arrival of Domination’s headline act and the woman currently warming Ben’s bed, Bazine Netal. Baz stormed the stage dressed in a beaded blue lingerie set and quintessential sky-high clear plastic stilettos, gyrating to the rhythm of a deep bass beat. Ben took an appreciative breath… and smelled something unexpected.

It was the scent of fresh strawberries and juicy limes, sweet and tart, summery and delicious. His mouth watered, his dormant manhood swelling uncomfortably, tenting the front of designer slacks. 

What the hell?

Ben stood up, drawing an arch smile from Bazine onstage who assumed his attention was for her, but his gaze raked across the violet-lit crowd instead. Most patrons had their eyes trained on the Beta female purported to be the best stripper in Coruscant, though a few gave him enquiring looks and even fewer dared frown at the big Alpha interrupting their viewing pleasure.

Ben didn’t know how it had happened but there was an Omega female in the room. And not just any Omega, but the very one who’d made him forsake all others in sheer self-defence. 

Where was she?

She scented him before she saw him. He smelled of woodsmoke and pine, fresh and outdoorsy and so very, very virile, his pheromones turning her hot, moist and achy.

Rey Niima was a woman with a plan. It was how she ordered her life. 

She was working hard to earn her college degree in social work and eventually she would find a job in her field. She wanted to protect Omega females just like herself, paying forward all the advantages she’d received growing up, for hers had not been an ordinary Omega childhood. Apart from this, she intended to make certain her sisters lived the prejudice free existence they deserved. 

Rey’s plan wasn’t very complex or sophisticated, and to some it might even have seemed an easy one to accomplish, but nothing was easy for an Omega female in the world they lived in. 

It was true, Omega rights were receiving more and more attention. Omega females could now work, drive and vote. There were laws in place to ensure they were treated well by their mates, whether Alpha or Beta, though the likelihood of those laws being upheld were pretty slim. After all, not so long ago an Omega was as much an Alpha’s property as was his car. It took a long time to change society’s perceptions of an entire demographic. 

Rey’s other plan required inaction, which was quite unlike her. She must never, ever fall in love and marry. It was too risky. She didn’t trust a single Alpha (not that she knew many) and suspected the Beta males drawn to her kind were only looking for a wife they could control. It didn’t help that her foster mother used to return home with horrific tales of Omega abuse, but Rey knew she shared her stories as a warning to her girls.

For a long time, Rey hadn’t realised just how lucky she was to be found by Leia Organa. The beautiful woman with her thick braid of mahogany hair and deep brown eyes was her saviour in the truest sense of the word.

Rey never knew her parents. She was too young to remember exactly when they sold her to Plutt’s Home for Disaffected Girls. Fortunately, Leia had grown suspicious over the fact every one of Plutt’s orphans was an Omega female. The social worker became even more concerned when she realised those who reached puberty soon went missing. 

“Ungrateful runaways,” Plutt claimed, but really he was a flesh peddler, selling subservient little girls with no family connections to wealthy men. Some of his clients were Alphas, seeking a breeder for their pups. Others were sadists, looking for a female to abuse. Most already had wives, respectable Betas without messy heats and animalistic physical needs, able to perform admirably in public. Few sought Omegas as wives or companions. No, these males were looking for servants and pets.

After Leia exposed Plutt’s home for what it really was- a black market Omega factory- she had the radical idea of fostering the pathetic little collection of Omega girls herself. 

Rey was the oldest by a few months. Next came Paige Tico, born the same year and as reliable as the rising sun but lacking Rey’s leadership skills or academic drive. Rose was Paige’s younger sister, a sharp minded female who adored taking things apart to see how they worked. Jannah Calrissian was a year younger than Rose and the only one among them who seemed fearless when it came to the males of the species. And finally, there was their sweet baby Kaydel Connix, with her milky skin, white blonde curls and shy disposition. Her sister had just entered puberty that year and Rey shuddered to think what would have happened to the gentle girl had Leia not rescued them.

A month ago, Rey’s life was ticking along exactly as she’d hoped. There was prejudice to be faced by an Omega attending college but that was only to be expected. Men didn’t like being told by a female, much less an Omega, that their attentions weren’t wanted. Still, she enjoyed her classes and the freedom of being outside her neighbourhood. For all her forward thinking about Omega rights, Leia was an overprotective guardian, insisting Rey and her sisters regularly check in and making them abide by a curfew.

Life was just about perfect… and then everything fell apart. 

Rey was on her way back from the library when she received a hysterical call from Kaydel. The little blonde arrived home from school to find Leia slumped over the dining table. Rey rang for an ambulance but it was too late; her foster mother’s body was already cold. The coroner discovered a blood clot in Leia’s brain- a devastating end to the life of the most vibrant woman Rey had ever known. 

She felt as if she was moving underwater ever since. Rey still didn’t know how the funeral came together except suddenly Leia’s adult son had taken charge. A phone call from a rich and powerful Alpha superseded the instructions Rey gave, but in the end she was grateful for his efficiency. All she had to do was ensure she and her sisters were dressed in black when they turned up at Jakku’s only funeral parlour.

The ceremony was surprisingly peaceful; the long room elegant with blonde wood floors and rafters, plenty of windows looking out onto a beautifully tended burial ground. The seats were packed with Leia’s friends and colleagues from social services. No one eulogised Leia and Rey felt bad about that until she realised her foster mother would have hated speechifying anyway. Leia was not a woman for flattery or compliments.

Rey and her sisters were placed in the first row on the right side of the hall, and across the aisle in an expensive black suit, his face seemingly carved from stone, was Ben Solo, his Alpha presence so electrifying none were able to take their eyes off him. Rey still felt guilty she couldn’t remember a word that was spoken at the service. She’d been consumed by the scent of the angry, grieving male not ten feet away from her. 

After the funeral, Rey tried to scrape together the courage to speak to Ben. She almost felt like she knew him thanks to Leia’s stories about her old life in Coruscant, but he was gone as soon as his mother’s casket was lowered into the ground. Ben had paid for a lavish reception, but he didn’t stick around to taste the food. The very next day, Ben was mentioned in an article about a multimillion dollar business merger to expand Skywalker Solutions.

He didn’t even return when Leia’s will was read. Rey discovered everything had been left to her- the house and its contents, Leia’s ancient station wagon and meagre bank balance. The bequest should have made her happy but it only gave her anxiety. Her foster mother knew Rey could be depended upon to take care of the others. The only thing Leia hadn’t counted on was dying before Rey came of age.

Rey was twenty-and-three-quarters years old. Three more months and she would turn twenty-one, but until then she and her sisters were beholden to Jakku’s archaic laws on the treatment of underage Omegas. Alphas and Betas were considered legally emancipated at eighteen, but if you were an Omega you had to wait until your twenty-first birthday. The injustice of it all burned her. 

Maz Kanata was the social worker assigned to their unfortunate situation and they were lucky she was an old friend of Leia’s. She tried to prevent the wheels from turning too quickly, hoping to buy Rey the time she needed to come of age. After a month of wrangling with the powers that be, however, Maz informed Rey there was nothing more to be done. 

Unless Rey could somehow find an adult Alpha willing to take Leia’s place as the head of their household within a week, Rey and her sisters would be sent to foster homes across the county at the will of the state. There were no guarantees they would be kept together, and in fact Maz was certain nobody would be able to accommodate five Omega females. 

Rey had taken the problem to her sisters and after comforting thirteen-year-old Kaydel who’d burst into tears, they stayed up all night discussing the matter. What they needed was an adult Alpha to help them out, but those were the very people from whom Leia had protected them. Some of their classmates presented as Alpha and there were even a couple of Alpha teachers at their schools, but none they knew well enough to make such a serious request. 

It was seventeen-year-old Jannah who finally brought up the only candidate rattling around in Rey’s brain. “I don’t know why we’re even talking about it,” she had declared irritably. “We all know who we have to ask.”

Four pairs of liquid Omega eyes turned to Rey, who felt her pulse spike and her cheeks flush. “Ben,” she’d whispered.

It was always going to be Ben. He was their final hope.


	2. I Don't Recognize Me

“What are you doing here?”

It hadn’t taken Ben very long to follow the mouth-watering pheromone trail left by the Omega in Club Domination. 

She was seated at the bar but faced the stage, a look of unease on her delicate face. Small and slim in a dress of white lace, her short, tight skirt revealed shapely legs and scuffed heels, the spaghetti strap top cut low enough to highlight the swell of firm little breasts. More than one male had picked up her scent and Ben spotted another Alpha moving towards her. It was fortunate he got there first- he preferred not to spill blood on a night when there were reporters just outside the door.

The Omega jumped at his question, pink lips quivering. He remembered the big hazel eyes with their long, sleek lashes, her irises clear brown with a jade green centre, that gaze settling on him in sweet relief. 

Her response to his presence made his ego and gland swell in mutual satisfaction. She was happy to see him. Shiny chestnut hair with warm red tones looked dark in the club lights. She had worn it down in rippling waves that hung past her narrow shoulders, though he could still see the subtle lip of her pheromone gland behind her right ear.

Naturally, he could. It was the reason why his entire body was on fire.

She slid off the bar stool and even in her high heels the top of her head barely cleared the middle of his chest. She was a diminutive thing, though her naturally tan complexion made it look like she spent her days sunbathing nude on a tropical beach.

Nude. Good grief, as if he needed a mental image of this perfect Omega naked and glistening with lotion on golden sands… 

Yup, there it was. His cock ached in reaction to the picture now burning in his brain. 

“Alpha,” she gasped, and blushed immediately. “I mean, Mr Solo. I- I don’t know if you remember me, but my name is…”

“Rey,” he said, interrupting her. 

Was she being serious? Of course, he remembered her. He remembered every excruciating second of their one and only interaction. 

The first time they met she was eight and he eighteen. Really, they were both children.

He was already huge, as tall as he was ever gonna get and as broad as a barn door. His muscle mass came later, but even then he was impressive to look at. He remembered introducing himself to the little girl and watching her immature hazel eyes grow round as she took him in piece by piece. 

Ben Solo. He never really liked his name until then. It was the kind of name one gave a man who knew who he was, someone with enough aggressive confidence and swagger to fill a room. A true Alpha. Which he was, as it turned out. Rey thought so too; it was there stamped all over her wondering face. 

He was visiting his mother’s brand new home. At least, the home was new to her. The building itself had existed for quite a few years and needed a lick of paint, or several coats of the stuff, as well as new plumbing, flooring and a cooling system that worked. He hoped all that had come later. Even after he took over the company, Leia had refused his financial assistance.

That was his mother- proud to a fault. Also, an Alpha trait.

Leia Organa was that rarest of creatures- a female Alpha. Ben recalled his grandfather Anakin telling him in one of his drunker-than-usual moments what a shock it had been to everyone when Leia found an Alpha male with whom she could settle down. Anakin himself obtained an Omega bride through a government allocation program, back in the days when it was presumed Omegas were took weak minded to look after themselves. Ben never knew his grandmother Padmé; she had died in childbirth when Leia was still a toddler.

Despite his grandfather’s belief that Leia was too ornery to settle down with any man, she and Han Solo had fallen in love and married. Ben arrived a year later, after a complicated pregnancy and an even more difficult birth. All his memories of his parent’s interactions were contentious. The two Alphas fought constantly, and while Ben now suspected there was a time when it was a stimulating relationship, as far as he was concerned their marriage was a nightmare.

They lasted twelve years before reluctantly calling it quits, their reluctance stemming from the fact Alphas hated failing at anything rather than a real desire to stay together, and Ben spent his teenage years shuttling back and forth between Han and Leia. Up till then, Leia had supported Han in building Skywalker Solutions into a viable business. After the divorce, his mother returned to school. With her usual single-minded discipline, she became a social worker and champion of Omega rights.

Even knowing these things, Ben had been taken aback by his mother’s announcement that she was going to become den mother to five destitute Omegas discovered in some hellhole of an orphanage. Ever the dutiful son, Ben arrived the week after Leia moved to Jakku to support her latest venture. He told himself to keep an open mind. The older he became the more he caught himself speaking to his mother in a tone that reminded him of his dad.

He’d walked into the rambling double storey house to find a scene that was the direct antithesis of domestic bliss. The ground floor was covered in opened but overflowing boxes, making it clear Leia had been dipping into the various containers whenever she needed something but had yet to unpack. Also, there was not one, nor two, but three little girls crying at the top of their lungs. One of them seemed less teary than enraged, but that could have been him being judgemental.

Leia directed Rey- one of the two girls not bawling- to take Ben to the sitting room, letting her son know she would join them as soon as things were back under control.

Ben remembered the sticky paw slipping into his big hand like it was yesterday. The little girl with three knobbly buns of hair solemnly marched him away from the chaos and he’d gone from alarmed to contented as the little one’s scent floated up to him, filling his nostrils with the promise of summer.

The living room had dilapidated furniture and an ancient television set, but to Ben it was heaven. He sat on the couch and Rey climbed into his lap, chattering happily about the new ribbon she’d been given which now adorned one of her buns in all its yellow glory, her fingers unselfconsciously tracing the lines of his angular face, running over his forehead and nose, his cheekbones and jaw, his eyebrows and ears. And when those little fingertips found his plush mouth, he kissed them.

Rey squealed and giggled, blushing bright pink but leaning into him, wanting more. More attention from this Alpha male who was damn near intoxicated by her innocence and pheromones. 

He began slowly, a brush of lips against her cheek, a soft peck on her nose, warm kisses against her scrunched up eyelids. Her skinny arms wrapped around his neck and she propped her chin on his chest, cooing adorably in delight. By the time Leia found them Ben was holding Rey so tight she was breathless, his mouth dangerously near the juvenile gland behind her ear. 

_“Ben!”_ Leia had yelled, her tone angry and her gaze hard.

He reacted like he’d been shot. Ben pushed Rey off his lap so fast she ended up on the floor and began wailing in distress at her perceived rejection by this Alpha. He’d never felt so ashamed in all his life. Stammering apologies, he walked out of Leia’s house, never to return.

Ben still agonised over that afternoon, the self-loathing he felt excruciating. Rey was only eight and he’d treated her like an Omega snack for his personal delectation. In mere minutes, he’d turned into the kind of Alpha male his mother campaigned against. There were Omegas at his school, but none had garnered a reaction from him like that little one with the yellow ribbon in her hair. 

That was the day Ben began avoiding all Omegas in general, and one in particular. He dared not expose himself to Rey’s siren song. He certainly never wanted to see that expression of anger and disgust on his mother’s face ever again.

And now his very own brand of crack had appeared out of thin air, looking at him as if he was the only man in the whole wide world. He was lost before the battle began.

Rey nervously bit her lower lip, a bad habit she thought she’d trained herself out of years ago.

Ben Solo remembered her, knew her name. She felt her squirming Omega sensibilities, so long denied, begin to hum.

 _Alpha,_ a little voice piped up in the back of her head, so needy Rey almost didn’t recognise it as herself.

No. No, no, no. This was not her. She was not some willing receptacle for an Alpha’s desire.

_Alpha?_

Except she needed Ben. Needed this big, strong Alpha with a desperation that bordered on unseemly.

“Please, Alpha, may I speak to you?” 

And there she went again, referring to him by designation rather than name. Leia would be so disappointed. Twelve years of indoctrination gone the second Rey was doused in a cloud of intoxicating Alpha pheromones. 

“Why?” he snapped, and his angry expression reduced her Omega parts to jelly.

_Alpha is upset. Why did you upset Alpha?_

Rey blinked back the sting of rejection, telling herself to get a grip. He was just a man. A big, muscular tree of a man with thick-as-fudge black hair and shimmering amber eyes who held her family’s happiness in the palms of broad hands with long fingers and trim nails...

And for the first time since she’d begun her course of suppressants seven years ago, Rey gushed in her panties, the pink muscles at the junction of her thighs clenching hard and releasing enough slick to dampen her legs. His nostrils flared as he smelled her arousal, the pupils of his eyes expanding into black pools.

Oh. Oh, no.

“This guy bothering you, sugar?” a drawling voice asked, and both Rey and Ben turned to stare at the interloper.

He was another Alpha, a dark blonde in a silk shirt and jeans, his scent cloud metallic and coppery, bringing unpleasant thoughts of blood to her mind. The way Ben was looming over her, his face set in a scowl, Rey supposed it could appear as if he was hassling her rather than the other way around.

“I’m fine, thank you,” she replied stiffly, and then wondered why she’d bothered when the male transferred his gaze to Ben, as if it didn’t matter what she said so long as the other man was appropriately cowed.

But the last thing anyone would have called Ben Solo was spineless. Rather, he was the one most likely to do the intimidating. Rey already felt as delicate as porcelain next to his towering frame, but this threat of another Alpha seemed to make him swell to double his size.

She swallowed an undignified _“meep”_ as he draped an arm over her shoulders, pulling her snug against his chest. “She’s with me,” was all he said but his tone was as dark as a starless night. 

The blonde glared from Ben to Rey and back again. “She’s not mated,” he snapped, as if that excused his behaviour. “I wouldn’t bring my Omega to a nightclub and let her run loose for any male to claim.”

Righteous anger made Rey stiffen in Ben’s embrace, her pheromone cloud becoming lemony sharp with emotions. She had every right to be there, Omega or not!

Immediately, Ben sought to soothe her, dropping a kiss on top of her head, his arm tightening its reassuring hold. The domestic move seemed to settle the other man.

“This isn’t the right venue if it’s Omegas you’re looking for,” Ben murmured. 

Both males glanced at the stage where a gorgeous blonde was writhing nearly naked in an erotically charged dance. The announcer had called her Bazine and if the gossip columns were to be believed, she was Ben’s current girlfriend.

With the other Alpha distracted, Ben turned and crossed the floor, moving so swiftly he half carried Rey with him. He led her to a circular booth where a very expensive bottle of champagne and two glasses sat untouched on the golden tabletop. Once they were settled on padded velvet seats, Rey spoke a trifle breathlessly.

“That was rude,” she said. Ben raised a brow and she flushed. “Not you, Alpha, I mean, Mr Solo- the other guy.”

Ben sniffed. “He’s not wrong.”

“I’m allowed to be here,” Rey bristled, squashing her wailing Omega inner voice. “I paid the cover charge.”

A reluctant smile tugged at the corners of his lush mouth. Dear Lord, that mouth. “I’m not denying your rights, sweetheart. I’m just saying it’s dangerous.”

The endearment coming from Ben’s lips warmed Rey’s cheeks and she was grateful the odd purplish haze of club lights hid her reaction.

“What the hell are you doing outside of Jakku?”

Rey took a deep breath, going over her little speech in her mind. She had memorised all the right words to say but now, drowning in Ben’s tantalising and smoky scent, she was drawing a blank.

“Rey?” he asked impatiently.

Throwing caution to the wind, she said, “Please, Alpha, you have to help me.”


	3. This Place And Its Patrons

Ben swallowed a groan as Rey leaned into him, all doe eyed and pink lipped and smelling luscious. 

Every instinct was telling him to build her a nest where they would mate so she could birth him litters of pups, preferably three at a time. He could chain her to the bed, ensuring she was always available for his use. Right now, that seemed a reasonable course of action.

Curse this Omega. It wasn’t fair. He was trying so hard to be a good man, but she brought out the darkness inside him.

“Well?” he snapped when she paused to gather her thoughts.

She gave him a beseeching look and he damn near kissed her. Ben waited with clenched fists.

“I- I don’t know if you realise this but Leia left the house and car to me,” Rey said hesitantly.

He couldn’t help but smirk. “You’re welcome to it, sweetheart.”

He watched the condescending tone ruffle her feathers and smothered a chuckle. She was adorable when she was mad.

“I only say that to tell you Leia expected me to care for the other girls after she was gone.”

“Right,” Ben murmured, deciding the quicker their conversation finished the better for the both of them. “So what d’you need? Cash?” He was already pulling out his wallet.

Rey frowned and he longed to soothe the little furrow that appeared in the space between her brows. “We don’t need your money,” she said, her tone becoming clipped. “Paige, Rose and Jannah all have part time jobs. The house and car are paid for, so we have very little expenses apart from food and utilities.”

“What about school?” Ben asked to her evident surprise.

“I- I’m on a full scholarship and Paige is being trained as a teaching assistant at the kindergarten where she works. The other girls are still in high school.”

“So you’re okay for books and other necessities? What happens when the next sister in age wants to go to college?”

Rey stared at him and Ben knew he was behaving strangely. It was the Alpha coming out in him, wanting to protect and provide.

“Look, Mr Solo,” Rey said, trying to wrestle back control of the conversation.

“Ben,” he said, interrupting her once more.

She worried her little lips with her teeth until the ache in his loins returned. “Ben,” she said at last, her voice strained, “it’s not money that I’m after. What I need… what we need… is you.”

That was unexpected. Ben sat back even though all he wanted was to invade Rey’s space.

Relieved to have presented her request, she continued, “There are five of us underaged Omegas under one roof and we’re about to be split up. The government will send us to different foster homes unless an Alpha moves in.”

“Rey,” he shook his head, surprised she would even think him willing to accept such an undertaking, “I’m a very busy man. You can’t expect me to become your new guardian.”

“Of course,” she said, blushing hard. “I- we only need you for three months. After that, I turn twenty-one and I’ll be able to register myself as the head of the household.”

Impossible. What she was asking was impossible. Three whole months marinading in the combined Omega pheromones of five young women? He would lose his mind. And yet, Ben was struggling to say no.

“Why do you need an Alpha?” he asked, buying himself time. She looked askance and he clarified, “I mean, why not a Beta? Surely it would be easier for you to locate a Beta female to help in your predicament.”

Rey heaved a sigh, clearly having run through the options time and again in her own mind. “There are more than three Omega females in our home,” she explained. “Government law states the guardian in such a foster home must be an Alpha to ensure we are… controlled.”

He heard the bitterness in her voice. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

Her hazel eyes grew big. “I- it’s not your fault- I mean, thank you,” she stammered.

Ben asked something else that was puzzling him. “You said once you turn twenty-one you can take over guardianship. How does that work?”

“I can claim our home as an Omega sanctuary,” Rey replied promptly. “It’s not a common thing, but our social worker Maz was a friend of Leia’s and promised to push through the paperwork. She said it’ll be easy to organise since I own the house outright.”

Ben nodded, turning away from her earnest gaze. He faced the stage but didn’t see the tail end of Bazine’s raunchy routine, his mind was so firmly centred on the Omega beside him. “I don’t know, Rey. I understand why you’re asking this of me, but it’s still three whole months of my time and I have a business to run. Can’t you just reunite with your sisters once you’ve reached legal age?”

“It’s not as easy as that. Maz warned I’d be fighting the state for years to have my sisters returned to my care. The bureaucrats will see my request as bothersome. Why shift a child who’s already been settled in a home, and furthermore why place her under an Omega guardian? I’m not related to any of my sisters by blood and we were never officially adopted.” Rey drew a shuddering breath. “Ben, please, I know I’m asking a lot, but it’s what Leia would want too…”

“Don’t speak to me about my mother,” he snarled, regretting the tone when she flinched and drew back. “I don’t need you manipulating me by calling upon her ghost.”

Rey’s lips quivered. “I’m sorry, Alpha,” she gasped. “I didn’t mean to upset you…”

Alpha. Damn, it felt good to hear her call him that. 

“It’s fine,” he said, cutting off her apology. “I shouldn’t have snapped. We’re both grieving Leia’s loss.”

She nodded, her head bowed.

Ben longed to pick Rey up in his arms and comfort her. To avoid the temptation of crossing physical boundaries, he asked, “So you’re at college?”

She lifted her chin, the gloss of tears in her eyes making him feel like a monster. “Yes, for a year now. I’ve really enjoyed it.”

“That’s good,” he said awkwardly. “Not many Omegas strive for higher education.”

“I still face a lot of prejudice,” Rey said, firming her lips. “Professors who think I’ve cheated because there’s no way an Omega could ace an exam, or Beta and Alpha students who don’t want me in class with them because they believe I’m wasting everyone’s time.”

“That’s rough,” Ben said, unable to suppress the anger he felt that she would be treated in such a way. “What are you studying?”

“Social work.”

He couldn’t help himself, letting out a cynical laugh.

“What is it?” Rey asked. 

“Leia Organa strikes again,” he murmured.

“I don’t understand,” she frowned.

Ben dragged a sigh from the depths of his soul. “Do you really want to be a social worker, Rey, or are you doing the course because it’s what Leia would have liked?”

She stared at him, conflicting emotions on her face. “It’s what I want,” she said stiffly.

“Are you sure, baby?” he asked disbelievingly. “Are you absolutely positive you’re not trying to please my mother? The same woman who decided to put you in charge of four other Omegas as if you don’t have your own life to live?”

“They’re my sisters,” she said, sitting up straight. “Those Omegas, as you call them, are the only family I’ve known! You may not understand the burden of what it is to be an Omega female in this wretched world, but I do and Leia did too. I will never abandon the ones I love to a system that still tries to treat us like mindless animals.” Rey had flushed redder and redder with every word she spoke. “You know what, I don’t need this. I came here for help and if you’re only going to mock my attempts to keep my family together, then I’m leaving.”

Ben watched in astonishment as Rey stood up to go. “Sit,” he said, his tone harsh.

She reacted as if she’d been hit with a taser, flopping back down in a confusion of limbs. She stared at him with big eyes and he grimaced. They both understood what had transpired and neither one was happy about it.

He’d issued her a command as an Alpha male and she had reacted as his Omega female. A curious mixture of horror and satisfaction swelled in his chest. What was he doing messing around with this girl, knowing her scent confounded him? He was playing with fire.

And yet Ben leaned forward and took Rey’s trembling little fist in his hand, gripping firm but not tight, transferring his warmth to cold fingers. 

“I’m sorry, Rey. I didn’t mean to offend you. I suspect I’m working through my own issues with my mother.” She gave a shiver, her fingers uncurling inside his grasp, and he was pleased to see she didn’t try to pull away. “I shouldn’t judge your choices. We live in a society where I have far more opportunities than you and your sisters.”

Rey stared at him for so long that he asked, “What? What did I say?”

She shrugged. “Apart from Leia, I’ve never heard an Alpha acknowledge Omega abuse. Most seem to believe we’re better off being treated like pets.”

Ben smiled. “You know who my mother was, right? Leia made sure I understood the inequalities in our legal system.”

“You said you’re working out your own issues around Leia,” Rey said hesitantly. “What did you mean?”

She surprised him. For an Omega, Rey was remarkably forthright, but he supposed some of his mother’s personality must have rubbed off on the girls she fostered.

“It wasn’t just Leia,” Ben admitted. “Can you imagine what it was like growing up with three Alphas as caregivers?”

“Three?”

“My mother, my father and my Alpha grandfather.” Ben shook his head- what was he doing unburdening his heart to this girl? He never talked about his emotions. Ever. “Anyway,” he said gruffly, scowling at the unopened bottle of champagne and wondering if it was time to have a drink, “I’ve moved on.”

“Alpha… Ben,” Rey said, tightening her grip on his thumb like a baby would latch onto a parental finger, “Leia adored you. She talked about you all the time.”

“She did?” Ben asked despite himself.

Rey nodded, eyes wide. “She told us how well you did at college and how you played varsity football and turned down an offer to go pro so you could take over your father’s business after the accident. She was so proud that you put the family business above your personal desires. And then you turned the company into the success that it is today…”

“My mom said all that?” Ben heard himself ask, his voice hoarse with emotion.

Rey nodded again. “She loved you more than anything.”

At this, he gave a bitter laugh. “Not true, sweetheart. She had you five.”

“Oh, Leia loved us too,” Rey agreed artlessly, “but Ben, you were hers. Her son. What she felt for you was different. We all knew it.” 

He was about ready to burst at this sweet Omega’s words, her candour healing wounds he hadn’t wanted to acknowledge. 

Ben drew Rey close, his gaze focused on rosebud pink lips.

“Alpha?” she squeaked as he bent his head.

He would show her his gratitude.

“What the hell is going on here?” 

Ben blinked, looking up reluctantly. Before them stood a gorgeous blonde, her hands on curvaceous hips and sapphire eyes nearly incandescent with rage. 

Trouble had arrived in the form of his girlfriend.


	4. These Shoes And This Apron

Rey was so disappointed when Ben pulled his plush mouth away from hers that she could have slapped Bazine. It was quite a violent thought coming from an Omega female.

So close. She’d been so close to kissing the man of her dreams. Which he was, quite literally. Ever since she’d met Ben at the tender age of eight, Rey dreamt of him.

At first, he was Peter Pan, come to fly her away to Neverland, or Prince Charming, dancing with her until the clock struck midnight, or more appropriately the Beast who was tamed by her beauty. Once she reached adolescence, he turned into something else, something more. The boyfriend she could never have, the Alpha male who was destined to claim her, mate her… love her.

Rey was embarrassed by these secret fantasies. Not only were they a betrayal of everything Leia wanted her to be- independent and liberated- but Rey was fixating on her foster mother’s own son. 

Which was why she’d dared not present Ben’s name to her sisters when they first began discussing their problem. It felt too much like personal indulgence, but he was still their best option in a non-existent pool of candidates.

Except now the Alpha male who was their last chance at keeping the family together had denied her. Rey knew coming here was a long shot. What successful businessman had three months to spare for a group of Omegas he only knew as an extension of his mother’s charity work? Ben Solo was not beholden to them.

She cringed internally as she recalled his reaction to her statement about Leia. The truth of her words mattered nought. He was right- she’d tried to use the memory of his dead mother to manipulate him. She felt so ashamed. 

As if to pour salt in Rey’s wound, his girlfriend now stood before them wearing sparkling silver stilettos and what amounted to fancy looking underwear studded with sequins and diamantes, the skimpy outfit highlighting her long, lean form, hard breasts and a pierced belly button. Her hair was a white gold waterfall of curls down her back, her deep blue eyes framed by fluffy lashes that Rey suspected were fake.

Bazine was everything Rey was not; tall, blonde and outrageously sexy. She had never felt quite so depressed looking at another woman in all her life. 

“Who’s this?” Bazine demanded, her fierce gazed fixed on Rey.

“Nobody,” Ben snapped back, and Rey wished she could crawl into a hole and disappear.

Ben was only being honest, Rey told herself. She was nobody to him. 

She stood up to leave and was shocked when his big hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back onto the seat. 

“Where are you going?” he demanded, amber eyes aglow in the club lights.

Rey smothered the instinct to apologise to this male. She owed him no explanation- she was her own woman. And yet she heard herself answer, “Home.”

“To Jakku?” 

“Yes,” she said, cheeks burning under Bazine’s increasingly disbelieving stare.

“How will you return?”

“The same way I got here,” Rey replied, her tone brusque. 

“And how did you get here?” he asked irritably.

“I took a bus.”

“By yourself?” Ben looked outraged and Rey tried not to roll her eyes.

“It’s a perfectly acceptable mode of transport…”

“How long was the trip?” he snarled. “Five, six hours?”

“Six,” she admitted reluctantly. 

If she was being entirely honest with herself, she wasn’t looking forward to the journey home. She needed to stay awake to ensure she remained unmolested and that wasn’t easy to do on an overnighter. As an Omega, Rey had to be careful to conserve her energy and she hadn’t been able to do that on this trip. 

It was a myth that Omegas were weak and sickly. True, they lacked the natural muscle mass of Alphas and had smaller bones than Betas, but that didn’t mean they were unhealthy. Even their preference to hibernate at different points in their fertility cycle could be managed if one was careful. Unfortunately, Rey wasn’t able to have her usual ten minute cat naps to ensure she was working on optimum.

“You look exhausted,” Ben said bluntly, and even though his words only confirmed how she felt Rey couldn’t help but be insulted. His expression turned curious. “Rey…”

“Yes, Alpha,” she trilled, making Bazine scowl.

Stop. She had to stop it. He wasn’t her Alpha.

“How did you find me?”

Rey wasn’t about to tell Ben about the multiple phone calls she’d made to his company, none of which had been put through to him. After all, what business did an Omega female have with the CEO of Skywalker Solutions? Rose was the one who’d come up with this particular brainwave, for Rey to approach Ben at his favourite hangout. He’d been featured in several gossip magazines exiting Coruscant’s premier multi-designation hotspot Club Domination for the last two months, so it seemed a pretty safe bet he would be there. 

Rey was proud of herself for having the audacity to change into the white lace outfit that had once been her prom dress at the bus station bathroom. She’d stashed her bag in a locker and then caught the local bus here, all the while avoiding the looks of curious strangers. In the end, it hadn’t been difficult getting through the doors of Domination; most clubs were happy for Omega females to populate their space. She was even given a discount on the cover charge. 

“Omegas read newspapers too,” Rey said in answer to Ben’s question.

“She’s an Omega?” Bazine declared. “I knew it, you jerk! You said you didn’t swing that way.” 

“I don’t,” Ben growled, turning his gaze to the glamorous blonde, his hand still wrapped around Rey’s wrist. “She’s not mine. She knew my mother.”

Rey bristled at his response and tried to pull her hand away. She was not used to being spoken about like a nameless object. Ben’s grip only tightened. He’d leave a bruise if he wasn’t careful.

Her Omega receptors preened at the idea of being marked by this Alpha.

Enough, Rey told herself. She needed to go. The sooner she left, the sooner she’d be on her way home.

“Don’t lie to me,” Bazine was yelling, drawing the interest of the clientele around them. “You Alphas are all the same! Beta pussy is good enough until you’re nearing your rut and then all you want is an Omega cunt to sink your knot into.”

At this, Ben glanced at Rey and she felt a wave of heat wash over her. She swore she was experiencing a full body blush at the idea of this Alpha considering her cunt. Her Omega sensibilities were in ecstasy. Unfortunately, Bazine caught Ben’s look as well and changed tact.

“Why is she here?” the blonde asked, sounding almost reasonable as she tossed her curtain of hair over one shoulder.

“Rey needs my help with a situation in Jakku,” Ben murmured, his thumb unconsciously stroking the thin skin of her wrist. “Don’t you, sweetheart?”

Rey frowned. Hadn’t he already said no to her request? She opened her mouth to remind him of that fact when it occurred to her Ben might be reconsidering.

Surely not. A little spark of hope made her look at him with big hazel eyes. “Please, Alpha,” she said sweetly.

“Jakku? Isn’t that where you go to dehydrate and die?” Bazine cackled, the sneering tone somehow robbing her of her beauty. “You wouldn’t last an hour in that hellhole. You need your daily injection of sugar, don’t you, Ben?”

Reluctantly, he took his gaze off Rey and looked at Bazine. “You always had a way with words,” he muttered.

Rey had had enough. She wasn’t so naïve that she didn’t understand Baz’s blatantly sexual reference.

“You can have me.”

Ben’s amber gaze and Bazine’s sapphire eyes snapped back to Rey, one in shock and the other in fury.

“What did you say?” Ben asked, his deep, smooth voice turned hoarse.

Rey could feel her inner Omega doing shrieking cartwheels inside her head. She could barely believe she’d spoken the words herself.

“You can have me, Alpha,” she repeated with less confidence but equal amounts of sincerity. “I know it can be difficult for an Alpha… you have needs… but you can use me if- if you want.”

“Rey…”

Ben looked stunned and Rey wasn’t sure she’d said the right thing. Oh, what if he was trying to formulate a way to reject her, to let her know she wasn’t woman enough for him? She wasn’t sure she’d survive the experience.

He cleared his throat. “Alright.”

Rey’s jaw dropped open. “Excuse me?”

The grasp on her hand gentled, now that he knew she wasn’t going anywhere. 

“I said, yes. I’ll help you out.”

Rey squealed, throwing her arms around his formidable shoulders in a hug. “Thank you,” she gasped in Ben’s ear. “Thank you, thank you, thank you…”

“Are you freakin’ kidding me?” Bazine said, interrupting them. “Come on, baby,” she purred, bending forward so her large breasts threatened to spill out of her bejewelled bra, “look at this Omega. She’s so scrawny she probably hasn’t even hit puberty. I mean, why drink milk when you can have cream?”

Rey flushed at the insult, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care because Ben’s muscular arms were wrapping around her small form, lifting her bodily onto his lap, his head burrowing into the curve of her neck. She whimpered as his lips brushed the gland behind her ear, blood pumping so the invisible seam grew swollen and pink. 

Joy turned to a hot cascade of lust and slick gushed from her aching pussy. She’d never been so wet in all her life. But then she’d never been with an Alpha in all that time either.

_Alpha!_ her Omega senses sang, triumphant and blissful.

“Alpha bastard,” Bazine spat, realising Ben was in a fog of Rey’s making. “Enjoy your Omega slut. I’m sure you two will make each other very happy.” And with those words she stormed away.

Rey looked anxiously into Ben’s elegant face, wondering if he was upset over the loss of his girlfriend, but he didn’t seem to mind, his pulse a steady beat beneath her fingers.

“Mouth,” he ordered, and Rey’s chin tilted upwards, pink lips pursing in automatic offering.

He brushed his soft, plush lips against hers and she almost burst into flames. The kiss was brief and chaste, a mere promise of things to come.

“Let’s get out of here, sweetheart,” he said, just as she was considering peeling off her dress so he could press his lips on other areas.

Rey snapped back to herself, pulse erratic and cheeks flushed. 

She couldn’t believe it- just a few moments with an Alpha and she was turning into a mewling little Omega stereotype, hungry for the male in front of her. Had she really just offered herself in payment for Ben’s help? And had he really said yes?

Three months. Ben Solo would be moving in with her for three months. 

Despite a truckload of fear and trepidation, Rey Niima couldn’t wait.


	5. Taken More Than I Gave

Ben was a man of his word, but he still couldn’t believe the promise he’d made to Rey.

The little Omega was in the passenger seat of his luxury sedan, the backrest tilted as low as it would go, curled up on her side and fast asleep. Even unconscious, one small hand reached for him, her fingers resting on his thigh.

He had lost his damn mind. He supposed it was only a matter of time before it happened. Really, it was all Bazine’s fault. She had to bring up his _needs,_ didn’t she? Rey’s offer followed promptly after Baz’s snide words, as if determined to meet a challenge head on, and he, glorious and stupendous Alpha that he was, had crumbled at the thought of rolling around on a bed with this Omega.

A shiver ran down his spine, his cock thickening with blood as he considered what it would be like to mate with Rey, her delicious, drool-worthy scent splashed all over him like perfume.

No, he couldn’t go there. He may have agreed to three months in the hot, arid weather of Jakku, but he couldn’t take advantage of this Omega. The disapproving spectre of his mother loomed large. He might be an Alpha, but he didn’t need to be ruled by his desires. 

Ben glanced at Rey’s flushed face once more and bit back a groan. She was still in her little white dress, the skirt riding up to reveal slim thighs, her right breast squashed against the seatbelt. 

He’d wrapped her in his coat before they left Club Domination so she appeared as a dark lump to the slavering paparazzi. The very fact he’d kept her hidden would have let them know it wasn’t Bazine. The sensual blonde normally enjoyed the cameras, waving and calling out to make sure they got a good picture. Dating him had only increased Baz’s public profile.

He wondered if things were truly over between them and experienced no regret. Bazine was a dynamo in bed but he’d been left feeling hollow after their last few encounters. It was the same with every other female he’d dated. Not a single relationship had withstood the test of time.

From the club, Ben drove Rey to his office, her eyes going wide at the sight of the towering skyscraper owned by Skywalker Solutions. He took her upstairs with him since he didn’t like the idea of leaving Rey alone in the car in a desolate parking space, heading straight for his large office. She stood with her nose pressed against the thick glass of the windows, sighing at Coruscant’s glittering skyline while he packed his laptop and hard drive.

After that he drove them to his home, a triple storey penthouse in the city centre. He’d offered her a drink, but she’d shaken her head, quite insistent they needed to return to Jakku as soon as possible. He left her staring at an old family portrait of Han, Leia and himself as he packed. It didn’t take him long.

“Come on,” he said at last, reality hitting hard as he gazed around his luxury living space. 

His mother would have provided the basic necessities for herself and her tribe of Omegas, but he doubted Leia had used what little she earned on creature comforts. He was in for a rough three months.

Rey left his meagre collection of family photos and scurried back to his side, her face abashed.

As he packed the car with his belongings, she told him about needing to swing by the bus station to pick up her bag from a locker. His heart ached to think of her travelling unaccompanied and then getting changed in a public bathroom. Society’s opinions were shifting but it was still unsafe for a lone Omega. As reluctant as he was to leave Coruscant, Ben was suddenly very glad he’d agreed to help this vulnerable girl.

Rey was right; it was exactly what Leia would have wanted. After all the years his mother had spent raising, protecting and educating her girls, how could he in any good conscience allow them to be scattered to the wind at the whim of an unsympathetic and overworked government service?

They were nearly at Jakku. He’d managed to cut the journey down to four and a half hours, which was good to know if he ever needed to swing by Coruscant on a business trip. The sky was turning pink with the rising sun and in the distance Ben spotted the rambling old house Leia had purchased.

He parked the car in front of the double story structure and breathed a sigh. Twelve years had passed since he’d last visited but little had changed. The house had a wraparound porch and exposed brick veneer, the gabled roof still dusty grey though the trim and posts had changed from marigold yellow to mint green. Whatever good work the new paint job had accomplished was long gone and it was peeling once more. Ben suspected Jakku’s weather would have been unforgiving to any property.

He reached out and ran a finger along the delicate curve of Rey’s ear, tickling the soft skin and making her lashes flutter open. She looked at him in bleary-eyed confusion.

“You’re home, Rey,” he said, biting back a laugh as she straightened with a snap of her spine, a rosy blush heating her cheeks.

She rubbed her eyes clear. “Thank you, Alpha… Ben. Sorry, I should call you Ben.”

He didn’t comment; it would be hypocritical to tell her to stop when he didn’t want her to. His glands buzzed every time her sweet voice referred to him by his designation. 

He exited the car into Jakku’s dry heat and was glad he’d changed into t-shirt and jeans. Ben handed Rey his laptop as he grabbed his suitcase from the trunk. Five rickety wooden stairs led to double doors painted forest green. 

Rey pulled out a key from her bag and dropped it before scrambling to pick it up again. She opened the door in a confusion of blushes. “Sorry, Alpha… Ben. Sorry, Ben,” she muttered.

“It’s fine, sweetheart,” he said trying to soothe her.

She stared at him with shining hazel eyes and he bit back a groan, realising the endearment wasn’t something Rey was used to coming from another male. He should watch his words.

“We’re home!” she hollered as soon as they were through the door.

The front hallway held a couple of shoe racks jammed with sneakers, sandals and the occasional pair of heels. There was also a table with a vase of dried out flowers and a bowl full of keys, and further down the corridor was a staircase with a white painted banister. The walls inside the house were also painted green and Ben began to wonder if Leia had received a discount for purchasing the colour in bulk. 

Like the rumble of distant thunder, he heard footsteps above him. A pair of skinny legs flew down the stairs and a small girl threw herself at Rey, wrapping her arms around her older sister’s waist.

“I missed you,” she declared.

To Ben’s eyes she looked about ten, which was impossible considering Leia had been caring for the girl for twelve years. He supposed it was her Omega biology making her appear so young. Her face was the innocent oval of a porcelain doll with peach lips and sky blue eyes, her shoulder length hair as blonde as a field of ripe wheat. She was dressed in white cotton pyjamas with cartoon pictures of sushi pieces, her little feet bare.

“Kaydel, I want you to meet Ben,” Rey said, turning her by the shoulders so she faced him.

Those little lips fell open as she stared up at him. 

“Hi,” he said, offering his hand, but Kaydel turned back to Rey, burying her face in the older girl’s stomach.

“She’s shy,” Rey said unnecessarily. “Kaydel’s the baby of the family. She turned thirteen not too long ago.”

It occurred to Ben that the only mother this girl had ever known was dead. Well, that went for the both of them.

Another girl followed, taking the stairs two at a time. She was about the same size as Rey with a mop of thick black curls and sparkling almond eyes. She had a round, sweet face and looked at Ben with avid curiosity.

“Hi, I’m Rose,” she said cheerfully. He only managed to give her a nod before she went on, “We didn’t think you’d do it, but here you are! Thanks for helping us out.”

He grinned at her insouciant manner. “You’re welcome, Rose.”

The final two Omegas arrived with more decorum but completely different attitudes. The first had a silken ponytail of dark hair and dark eyes, a soft pink dress highlighting her slim form.

“Good morning,” she said with a nervous smile. “We really appreciate what you’re doing for us, Mr Solo.”

“Ben,” he replied, cringing on the inside at how loud his deep bass voice sounded in this enclave of femininity. “Please, call me Ben.”

“Hmph,” the final female responded. 

She was a beautiful Omega with shining caramel skin and thickly lashed brown eyes, dressed in a ragged Janis Joplin t-shirt over a hot pink tank top and faded denim cutoffs. She was also the only one looking at him with outright distrust, though Ben suspected it was an emotion all the girls shared. 

“That’s Jannah,” Rey said, giving the angry one a reprimanding look.

“And Paige is my biological sister,” Rose added conversationally. “Our parents died in a mining accident and we ended up at the orphanage together.”

“Right,” Ben said. It was a lot to take first thing in the morning. 

“I just want to say one thing,” Jannah spoke up.

“Jannah,” Rey said, her tone a warning.

The other girl ignored her. “I mean, thanks for stepping up for us, but you know you’re only here for three months, right? You’re not _my_ Alpha.”

“Jannah!” Rey snapped.

Paige gasped, Rose grinned and Kaydel snuck another look at him.

Ben felt his temper flare. It had been a long night and while he hadn’t expected the girls to welcome him without misgivings, neither had he anticipated a fight. 

“You know what?” he growled, drawing himself up to full height. The five Omegas around him stepped back, varying expressions of fear and distress on delicate faces. “I need breakfast,” he said, changing his mind last minute about issuing a cutting retort. “And then we should discuss our arrangement. I’m calling a council of war.”

“What did you say?” Jannah asked, her expression shocked.

“It’s an unfortunate term,” Ben conceded. “It just means we’re gonna make a plan…”

“No, Alph- Ben, that’s not it,” Rey said, her voice strained. “We know what a council of war is. It’s just… Leia used to call our family meetings by that name as well.”

As if to punctuate her words, Kaydel burst into tears.

Ben had never felt so useless in all his life as he watched the sisters take action. Rose comforted Kaydel with a roll of her eyes, Rey directed Paige to get breakfast started and Jannah took Ben’s computer paraphernalia off Rey’s hands to put away safely. They were clearly used to looking after one another and he found himself agreeing with Jannah- he was not there to be their Alpha. 

Ben was accustomed to running things, ordering people about and having his every word attended to. In this home, however, his mother had taught her girls to be independent and any interference from him would probably be met by resentment. How was this going to work? He was already deeply regretting his decision to be there.

“Shall we eat?” Rey asked, reaching for his hand.

Ben felt her slender fingers wrap around his digits and his frustrations evaporated.

He didn’t know if this Omega was a blessing or a curse. Whatever the answer, she was dangerous to his pheromonal stability.

The next three months would prove to be interesting.


	6. It's Not Easy To Know

Rey watched in dismay as Ben inhaled an entire week’s worth of scrambled eggs and toast in the space of seconds. It was a good thing he had money because their finances wouldn’t be able to handle his stomach.

He gave her a crooked smile when he caught her gaping at his empty plate.

“I need a lot of fuel,” he said, making her blush. “Send me your bank details and I’ll make sure I top up the household spending.”

“Too right,” Rose responded in amazement. 

Kaydel giggled and then hid behind her bowl of cereal when Ben looked her way.

The kitchen and dining area was a cluttered space with bright green cabinetry from several decades ago and a scarred wooden table that could have seated twelve. Leia was constantly finding pieces of furniture at salvage yards to introduce into their home. The six of them ate breakfast off chipped china plates and mismatched cups, the Jakku morning sun streaming in through broken blinds. 

“Do you realise Kaydel is entering puberty?” Jannah asked apropos to nothing.

“So? We’ve all been through it,” Rose said around a mouthful of bread and peanut butter.

“We know what to do,” Paige agreed. “She’s already on a course of suppressants.” 

Jannah scowled. “Yeah, but none of us have had to deal with an Alpha in such close proximity while our hormones were raging for the first time.”

Kaydel’s older sisters gazed consideringly at her, just in time to catch the little blonde girl watching Ben with luminous blue eyes. 

“Boundaries,” Rey spoke, her voice clear as she took charge. “We need to set boundaries both for our sakes as well as Alph- Ben’s.”

Her sisters caught her slip up in reference to Ben and she saw their reactions in a variety of expressions down the dining table. Rey ignored them and turned to Ben who was looking at her with interest. 

“Would you like to begin? Let us know your terms? After all, you’re the one sacrificing your time and comfort to be here.”

“Very logical, sweetheart,” he replied, and Jannah’s eyes narrowed to hostile slits. “First of all, I’ll only be around until Rey turns twenty-one and is able to take over as your guardian. This is very much a temporary situation so the least interference from me the better.” Ben drained his glass of apple juice before continuing. “I’ll contribute financially to this household. If nothing else, we’re gonna need more groceries to keep me happy.”

“Rey eats a lot too,” Rose said confidingly.

“Hey!” Rey said in mock protest before laughing.

Ben was looking at her again. “You certainly can’t tell,” he murmured as she turned pink. Would she blush every time he spoke to her?

And she should have known Rose would take Ben’s presence in stride. The other girl worked mainly with Beta males at her after school mechanic job. Jannah seemed confident when it came to men, but her attitude hid a deeper distrust that was problematic. 

As if to reinforce Rey’s take on the situation, Jannah demanded, “So now that it’s of benefit to yourself, you give us money?”

“Jannah, stop it,” Rey snapped. “Ben is not responsible for our care.”

“He’s Leia’s son,” Jannah hissed. “That should mean something.”

Rey opened her mouth to debate the point, but Ben laid a hand on her cold little fingers.

“My relationship with my mother was less complicated than you think,” he said, looking at Jannah first and then the rest of them. “I mean, you girls know that Leia and I met for lunch every month, right? And I spoke to her on the phone all the time.”

Rey stared at him, taken aback. “I- we didn’t realise.”

“I suspected,” Rose murmured. “I overheard a call between you and Leia one night when I couldn’t sleep.” 

Rey frowned. “Why wouldn’t she say anything?”

He shrugged. “Leia was a complex woman and she had her reasons for raising you guys the way she did. I suspect she wanted you to be free from an Alpha male’s influence. Our biology…” he glanced at Rey, amber eyes darkening, “it’s a powerful force.” He turned back to Jannah. “I offered her money many times, but she refused to take it. Alphas are a proud lot.”

Jannah bit her lip and looked away. Rey understood why. Leia was so careful in her behaviour they often forgot _she_ was Alpha, the very enemy she tried so hard to protect them from.

Ben moved on. “I have my laptop and hard drive and I’ll need space to work from. Other than that you girls can continue on your merry way, doing what you need to do. Oh, and I reserve my right to make my life more comfortable.”

“What does that mean?” Jannah demanded.

Ben smirked. “If I want a big screen TV to watch the game, then I’m buying a big screen TV to watch the game.”

“Fair enough,” Rey said, derailing anyone’s attempts to find fault with this. 

“You should have Leia’s room.” An awkward silence fell at Paige’s words. 

Rey rallied quickly. “Good idea, Paige. It’s the master bedroom,” she told Ben, “and has its own bathroom.”

“Hasn’t anyone else taken it over?” Ben asked.

Rey shook her head. “We keep talking about packing up Leia’s stuff for charity, but it hasn’t happened yet.”

He nodded slowly. “You needed time.”

“She’s been gone for over a month,” Paige said quietly. “It’s time.”

Rey reached over and took Paige’s hand in hers. Sometimes her sister’s steady maturity surprised her. 

“Anything you need from me?” Ben asked, earning himself five looks of surprise.

“You’re doing enough just by being here,” Rey assured him.

“What happens when your blood is up?” Jannah asked bluntly. 

Paige flushed and Rose lifted her chin in interest. Ben hesitated and Rey knew she should be the one to explain.

“We- Alph- Ben and I- we have an agreement.”

Rey tried not to cringe as her sisters stared at her with varying degrees of horror. All except Kaydel who looked confused.

“Rey, is that what Leia would have wanted?” Paige asked hesitantly.

“Leia’s not here, is she?” Rey replied, her tone unexpectedly sharp. “And before you guys go blaming Ben, I should tell you it was my idea. It’s easier this way.”

“Are you serious?” Rose asked with round eyes. “Rey, it’s not like you’re experienced or anything.”

Rey blushed furiously, embarrassed Ben had heard Rose’s candid assessment. This Alpha was used to sleeping with sophisticated Beta women and she was almost as much of an innocent as Kaydel.

“I think it’s a great plan,” Jannah piped up and the whole room looked at her in shock.

“What’s the catch?” Rose demanded.

Jannah grinned. “No catch. I mean, Rey’s a big girl. She gets to make her own choices. Isn’t that right, Rey?”

As everyone’s attention returned to her, Rey wished the ground would open and swallow her whole. She looked at Ben, nervous to see his reaction and was astounded to find him grinning in amusement.

“This is my choice, guys,” she reiterated.

“I’m surprised you mentioned it at all,” Ben murmured in the silence that followed.

Rey shot him a most un-Omega like glare. “Would you rather one of my sisters call the cops on you?”

He burst out laughing and Rose instantly joined him. Paige looked down with a smile and Jannah gave a reluctant grin.

“What?” Kaydel piped up for the first time. “What are y’all talking about?”

Rey joined the ensuing laughter, her heart swelling in her chest at the unexpected moment of levity. It gave her hope. Perhaps the next three months would be more than just walking on eggshells. Maybe this Alpha was the family they’d been missing all along.

Rey wasn’t naïve, she understood the many issues with an Alpha-Omega coupling. Alpha was in charge. Alpha was in control. Alpha could get away with murder if he so wanted, and so many Alphas across the centuries had done exactly that, turning Omegas into sexual slaves. There was something in her biology that longed for subjugation; she’d felt it in the club when Ben had snapped a command in that deep, smooth voice. 

But this was Ben Solo, Leia’s son. He was a good Alpha.

_What if it’s a mask? What if underneath it all he’s just like the rest?_

A shadow clouded her face and Ben noticed. He arched a brow in her direction and she shook her head, unable to speak her truth. She was worried. Alpha’s presence in her home meant her family would remain together, but at what cost?

_There’s a reason why Leia kept him away. Blood will tell, Rey._

To stop herself from going down a dark path, Rey stood up and began clearing the breakfast dishes. “You’re gonna be late for work, Paige,” she reminded the other girl.

“I’m ready. I just need my bag,” Paige said, getting to her feet as well.

Rose yelped upon seeing the time and hustled Kaydel upstairs to get changed for school, their youngest sister reluctant to leave the room. Jannah also bounced up, muttering something about downloading a school project off their ancient desktop computer.

Rey began washing plates, cups and cutlery. Their dishwasher stopped working years ago and Leia had declared it a perfect opportunity to teach them old fashioned values. In desperation, Rose had tried to fix the machine but only managed to electrocute herself for her trouble. Some wiring issues were beyond even her ability.

“That went better than I thought,” Ben said. He’d gathered the remainder dishes and brought them to her.

“Oh, you don’t need to do that, Alph…” Rey nearly swallowed her tongue trying to avoid speaking his designation.

Blushing all over again, she took the dishes from him with soapy hands. 

“Rey,” he said quietly, reaching out and tucking a stray chestnut curl behind her ear, “I know you said you’d be physically available to me, but I don’t intend to abuse you.”

She blinked owlishly up at him. “A-alpha?” Her pulse began racing at his slight touch.

_Get a hold of yourself, Niima!_

“I’m going to try to get through these three months without, y’know, using you.”

“Oh?” She should have felt relief, but instead her inner Omega wailed in despair.

_Alpha doesn’t want me. Why doesn’t Alpha want me?_

He saw something in her big hazel eyes and she quickly turned back to the sink.

“It’ll be safer for both of us if we remain platonic,” Ben explained.

He was right, of course, but all she felt was the sting of rejection.

_You’re such an idiot, Rey, thinking Alpha desires you. He’s used to beautiful blondes with boobs the size of watermelons. Do you really believe he’s attracted to your skinny Omega body?_

Ben grabbed a dishtowel and began drying wet plates as she stacked them on a rack. They worked together in companionable silence, his woodsy male scent working its magic on her frayed nerves. By the time the dishes were done, Rey felt almost normal again.

“Shall I show you to the bedroom?” she asked innocently.

His responding grin was enough to turn her bones to water and once more her heartbeat went wild. Rey was beginning to realise she had no control around this powerful man and just how dangerous that could be.


	7. Like I Used To Be

Ben was horrified as he walked into his mother’s bedroom. Leia had never been one for cleaning up after herself, but he found the chaos of her personal space completely unreasonable.

Her bed was a mammoth four poster monstrosity with floral pink linens. There were built in wardrobes with green painted doors that permanently hung open because of the amount of clothes spilling out of them. Books and papers covered almost every available surface, including a large white vanity that did not match either the dark mahogany bed or its blonde wood side tables. The carpet underfoot used to be blue but was so threadbare in places it had turned a strange, rusty brown. Even the bathroom was crammed with bottles and tubes of used product.

“I can’t,” Ben said, his voice deepening by an octave. “I mean… this is… what is this?”

He contrasted the room with his own minimalist chrome, black and grey apartment and shuddered.

“Leia was a packrat,” Rey said, sounding amused by his reaction.

“That’s stating the bloody obvious,” Ben muttered. 

“To be fair, I don’t think she started out that way. Money was tight and she found it easier to put things away for a rainy day rather than buy us something new every time we needed it. And with five of us, someone always needed something.”

Ben shook his head. “I wish she’d just accepted my help.”

Rey looked at him curiously. “You can understand why she wouldn’t want to. It was your earnings after all.”

“My mom worked alongside my dad to build Skywalker Solutions from the ground up,” Ben said, frowning as he began to sift through a stack of papers. “By rights, the company proceeds belonged to her as well. She was just being stubborn.” He huffed as he read a traffic fine that was three years old. He hoped she’d paid it.

Rey was fidgeting behind him, her face a big question mark.

“What?” he demanded.

“Where did the company name come from?” she asked unexpectedly. “Leia always said she’d tell me the story one day.”

Ben sighed. “It’s a sad tale.” Rey looked on intently and he acquiesced. “My mother was born a twin.”

“Seriously?” Rey exclaimed.

He gave her a wintery smile. “Her brother’s name was Luke. My grandmother wasn’t able to look after both of them because of her health, so Leia was sent away. She was brought up by my grandfather’s stepbrother and his wife, a Beta couple who couldn’t have children, while Luke remained with Anakin and Padmé. Mom always said she had a happy childhood, even if she struggled with her designation in a Beta household. Years went by before she and Luke were reunited as teenagers. They had an instant connection, but it didn’t last long. Luke died suddenly in a car accident.”

Rey clapped a hand to her mouth, her eyes shiny with emotion. “I had no idea.”

“Mom never spoke about Uncle Luke,” Ben admitted. “Everything I know about the guy I found out through my father. When dad decided to start his own business, Leia asked if it could be called Skywalker Solutions. You see, Luke was a Skywalker, which was their family name. Leia had taken her adopted father’s name of Organa.” 

“Thank you for telling me,” Rey said when it became clear Ben wasn’t about to explain any further.

“You’re welcome, Omega,” he murmured, opening the doors to Leia’s closet.

He heard himself use her designation and Ben sensed rather than saw Rey’s reaction to it. He had to be more careful with the way he spoke to her. It was bad enough that she seemed enamoured by him, he shouldn’t be encouraging their connection. It wasn’t real, after all. Their chemistry was the product of pheromones and biology.

“I’m gonna clean up and then I’ll come help you,” Rey said. She was still in the white dress from the night before. “You can use the shower here if you like. I’ll get you a towel.”

“Sure, sweetheart,” he said, not turning around. 

Ben was happy for her to leave even with the amount of work before him. He needed to put some distance between himself and this Omega, no matter how delectable she smelled.

Once Rey was gone, he had a quick shower and changed into fresh clothes, pushing his suitcase into a corner for now. He discovered a stack of flattened boxes and packing tape beside the wardrobe, a clear indication the girls had started thinking about clearing Leia’s bedroom. Paige was right, of course. It was time. No use creating a shrine to a dead woman, no matter how loved she had been.

By the time Rey reappeared, he was halfway through the closet. He’d thrown all of Leia’s shoes into one box, her bags and accessories into another, and her clothes in yet another. He found random paperwork inside a sock drawer, making him roll his eyes, and piled them into another box. They would need to sift through the documents to ensure they didn’t accidentally shred something important like a birth certificate.

“You’ve done a lot,” Rey said, sounding impressed. 

He turned around and nearly cursed out loud at the sight of her. She wore a silky thin white tank top and pink shorts, her top clinging lovingly to unfettered breasts, the tight mounds topped by prominent nipples, her shorts hugging the curve of pert buttocks. Her hair was still damp, hanging loose past her shoulders, and she smelled even more intensely of strawberries.

Ben’s mouth filled with saliva, his skin tightening and his breath turning shallow. He told himself Rey had every right to be dressed as she was in her own home. Besides which her little tits clearly needed no support; they were so firm and perfect and…

He had to stop before he ravished the girl. What the hell was wrong with him? Where was his self-control?

“Ben?” Rey asked, her eyes big and her voice small. 

She could smell his desire in the air, of course. He was scaring her.

“All papers and documents in this box,” he said, his voice a growl. “I’ll keep emptying out the wardrobe and you can start with the dresser.”

“Yes, Alpha,” she said meekly, and his ego purred like a big cat.

They worked through the morning, stopping only for lunch. Rey made herself a ham and cheese sandwich and Ben had three of the same. By the time Rose and Kaydel returned from school, the only thing left to do was strip the bed and remake it with fresh sheets.

“Preferably nothing pink or floral,” Ben muttered, making Rey giggle.

“I think I can manage that,” she said, beaming at him. 

At some point in the day her hair had dried and she’d tied it up into three knobbly buns, reminding him painfully of the little girl she’d once been, the innocent urchin so excited about being given a yellow ribbon for her hair. He wondered how many gifts she’d received in her lifetime, and then told himself not to be sentimental. Leia may not have had much money, but Rey and her sisters grew up safe and cared for. 

“Woah!” Rose stood in the bedroom doorway, eyes wide as she took in the neat stack of boxes, the room empty of clutter. “You guys did great,” she said, looking impressed.

“It was mostly Ben,” Rey replied.

“Yeah, well, I had no intention of sleeping in a cave of my mother’s stuff for the next three months,” he said. Kaydel poked her head around Rose’s body and Ben asked, “Where’s Jannah? Didn’t she come home with you two?”

“She goes straight to work after school,” Rose explained. “Jannah’s a shop assistant at Jakku’s only gift shop. It’s great. She gets a pretty decent staff discount on their inventory. My shift at Plutt’s Service Centre doesn’t start for another hour…”

“What have you _done?”_

Ben, Rey and Rose stopped talking to stare at Kaydel. The youngest girl had turned as white as sheet, her blue eyes swelling with tears.

“What’s wrong?” Rey asked in surprise.

“Where’s Leia’s stuff?” she demanded, her voice high pitched and squeaky.

“In the boxes,” Rose said. “Kay, you knew we were gonna do it sometime…”

“How could you!” she screeched, little face turning red. “How could you get rid of Leia’s things just like that?”

“Kay, come on,” Rey said, walking up to her, “We packed her belongings but it’s all still here.”

Kaydel stamped a little foot, turning to glare daggers at Ben. “This isn’t your room, it’s hers! You had no right! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!”

“Kaydel!” Rey snapped.

The little blonde gave a wail and ran down the corridor, diving into a room at the other end of the hallway. Her pitiful sobs could be heard throughout the house.

“I’m so sorry,” Rey said, looking at Ben anxiously, but he wasn’t offended.

A strange calm had come over him, a feeling he’d never before experienced. Kaydel’s scent of roses and lilies had turned earthy with her show of temper. As her Alpha, he felt the instinctive need to deal with her muddled pheromones. 

_She’s not your Omega, Ben. What the hell are you thinking?_

“She’s the most emotional of all of us,” Rose said chattily. “She’s always crying, so don’t take it personally. Between Leia’s passing away and her whacked out new hormones, Kaydel’s been a really prickly cactus to deal with.”

_Omega needs you._

“Come with me,” Ben said to Rey as he strode down the hallway.

He found Kaydel in a room with two single beds, curled up in a foetal position and sobbing loudly into her pillow. Ben acted almost without thinking, sitting down on her bed before picking up the little girl bodily. He settled her on his lap and her pitiful cries ceased, partly in shock and partly in response to his Alpha presence.

“I know it’s hard losing your mother,” he said, low and calm, “but we lost her too. Your sisters are trying their best to look after each other and part of what needs to happen is we move on. Can you understand that?”

Kaydel made a sound that was half squeak and half sob.

“Do you think Leia would want her bedroom turned into a museum?”

“No,” Kaydel replied, her voice a whisper. 

“And would Leia want you to be a good girl?”

Kaydel shuddered in his embrace and buried her face in the front of his t-shirt. “Y-yes,” she said, her voice muffled by his chest.

Ben dropped a kiss on top of her ruffled hair and turned towards the doorway. Rey and Rose stood watching the exchange with their mouths agape.

“Alpha… Ben, that was amazing,” Rey said. “She never lets us comfort her.”

“Mm-hm,” Rose agreed. “Kaydel’s usually crying herself to sleep by now.”

“You know what might be a good idea,” Ben said, one hand stroking Kaydel’s back, “what about you go through the boxes and find a couple of things of Leia’s that you can keep for yourself. Does that sound like something you want to do?”

“Yes, Alpha,” Kaydel murmured, her little arms winding their way around his neck, holding him tight.

And for the first time in his life, Ben Solo understood what it meant to be an Alpha male. It was more than competition and success, more than heat and aggression. There was also this, the ability to comfort and care for the helpless ones in his pack. He realised this was the true fulfilment his mother had found.

He met Rey’s hazel eyes, glossy with tears, and smiled. “We’re okay,” he told her.

And that was the truth.


	8. Attention's Sweet Center

Ben carried Kaydel back to Leia’s room so she could begin rummaging through the boxes for a keepsake. Rey had never been so jealous of her baby sister in all her life. 

After a minute watching Kaydel pick through a box of scarves, Rose decided Ben’s idea of a memento was a good one and she joined her little sister on the floor of the bedroom, the two of them wrangling cheerfully over what they wanted to keep. In the meantime, Rey was struggling with an excess of emotions she’d never felt before. 

Alpha had stepped up, taken charge, calming her overwrought little sister and returning peace to their home. 

Alpha was caring for them, looking after them. 

Alpha was exceeding her expectations.

Rey’s body was flooded with pheromones and chaotic emotions, her skin dewy and her cunt aching. She longed to wrap herself around Ben’s big body, to kiss him and thank him, show her gratitude for all he’d done. 

After a while, she reached out and took his hand. He looked at her questioningly. 

“Will you come with me, please, Alpha?” she asked, not even hesitating to use his designation. 

He nodded and she led him to another door on the first floor, taking him into a room and turning the lock behind them.

Ben crossed big arms over his formidable chest, his cotton t-shirt clinging to thick muscles, lean hips and hard thighs on display in faded blue jeans. “Rey, sweetheart, is this your bedroom?”

She nodded, her heart beating so fast she felt faint, her eyes grown big, her mouth dry. 

Alpha. She needed Alpha.

She looked around the narrow room with its single bed and study desk in the corner, a tall bookshelf crammed every which way with novels and textbooks. It was plain but tidy, revealing her preference for the colour blue. She wondered what it looked like to Alpha. Did he see an immature young girl’s bedroom? Was her space a disappointment after all the glamorous women he’d dated, the ones with swanky apartments and mini mansions?

Rey realised she didn’t care. She wanted this male more than she’d wanted anything in all her life.

“Thank you for looking after Kaydel,” Rey said, stepping close to him. 

Ben backed away until his legs hit the side of her bed. She would have been insulted except she could see the outline of his big dick evident through the button fly of his jeans. Rey experienced a surge of triumph that she was able to arouse him. 

“That’s fine, sweetheart. Maybe we should take this conversation outside…”

“I want to show my gratitude, Alpha,” Rey trilled, almost delirious with how delicious Ben smelled, his woodsy scent filling her little room.

She placed her hand on the bulge between his legs, feeling his steel erection under soft denim. 

“Fuck,” Ben muttered, his hands clenching. “Rey, stop it, I’m not made of stone.”

“You’re hard enough to be,” she murmured, unfastening his belt buckle, undoing his fly.

She unceremoniously tugged his jeans and briefs down, pushing his chest so he sat on her bed. She dropped to her knees, saliva filling her mouth as she admired his bare cock. He was long and thick, a healthy pink with a broad vein that travelled the length of his shaft and a bulging mushroom tip already shiny with juices. She licked her lips.

“Rey, I thought we talked about this,” Ben said, his smooth baritone strangely hoarse.

“You talked,” she agreed. “I didn’t say a word.”

“Sweetheart…”

She leant forward and lapped at the plump head of his cock, tasting the clear pre-cum that wept from a tiny slit. Salt and tang. Above her, Ben swore, his expression strained. She dragged short nails down his thighs and felt the muscles flex, his cock twitching like a water hose. 

Rey waited for Ben to protest once more but he was unable to resist her obvious desire, his pupils blown wide, turning his gaze glassy black. She went back to lapping the slick oozing from his tip, the sweet salty flavour making her moan in appreciation. 

And then reality hit. Was this really happening? She hesitated. She’d wanted this for so long, not just the act but the man himself, and here he was, in her room and on her bed. What was she doing? But by now Alpha had regained control, making the question a moot point. Ben wrapped his big hand under her chin, tilting her delicate face so he could look into bright hazel eyes. 

“We’re gonna do this right, Omega,” he said, his voice a low growl. “Take off your top.”

Rey nearly combusted with desire. She obeyed him with unseemly haste, exposing her uptilted breasts with their tight coral nipples. Ben reached down and caressed one silken hill, squeezing the pink tip with painful pressure. 

“I’m sorry if I’m too small, Alpha,” she said, wincing a little, suddenly self-conscious.

He gave her a smile that was pure male appreciation. “Baby girl, you’re perfect. I want to come on your tits, do you hear me?”

Her breath caught in her throat and she nodded ecstatically. Alpha liked her body. She leaned forward again and he sank his fingers into her hair, dislodging the rubber bands holding her chestnut red locks in three buns. He guided her head so she was under his dripping cock.

“So many girls focus on the head,” he murmured, “but you’ll learn to appreciate all of me.”

For a moment, Rey was confused, and then she saw smooth, plump sacs and opened her mouth to lick his balls. They had a suppleness her tongue enjoyed, and she kissed each in turn before sucking both into her mouth. Her cheeks bulged with the size of him and Ben let out a guttural cry of approval. That was her signal to work him over with the dedication of a cheerleader trying to earn herself a quarterback for a boyfriend.

Once his testicles were glazed with saliva, he tugged her head up to his swollen shaft. Rey kissed sensitive skin, running her tongue along the throbbing vein, licking his organ while his pre-cum flowed.

“Open your mouth, Omega,” Ben murmured, his fingers tight in her hair. “You’ll take all of me, won’t you, sweetheart?”

“Yes, Alpha,” she murmured.

“No talking,” he snapped. “When tending to me you keep your focus on my cock. I won’t stand for interruptions unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

She blinked back the sting of tears that she’d failed him in such a basic way.

He stroked her soft cheek. “Don’t look like that, sweetheart. Alpha will teach you how to be his good girl.”

Gratitude welled in her heart. “Thank you, Alpha. Oh!”

She realised she’d messed up again and returned her lips and tongue to his throbbing organ. He chuckled, stroking her hair, reassuring her it was going to be okay. But Rey was determined to be a perfect Omega, doing everything this Alpha wanted.

She parted her lips and sucked his bulging red head into her mouth, her little tongue scrubbing at the sensitive bundle of nerves underneath. Ben groaned his appreciation, and she hollowed out her cheeks to suck harder. Rey angled her head so she could slide more of his shaft into her mouth, smothering her gag reflex as his tip hit the back of her throat. She released him with a cough, strands of saliva connecting her little pink lips to his fat cock. 

“Good girl,” he murmured, his eyes like onyx. “You’re doing so well, sweetheart.”

She beamed up at him before swallowing his dick once more, working his thick shaft deep inside her mouth. The room filled with the sounds of her wet suckling and his appreciative moans, praise like honey pouring down her ears, reassuring her that she was fulfilling her promise as his Omega.

She wanted to be the best he’d ever had, better than Bazine or any of those other Beta skanks. If she was good enough, maybe when the three months were over she’d still be able to see Ben. Rey wanted a relationship with this Alpha that went beyond her body’s natural lust for a healthy male. As impossible as it seemed, she wanted to be his mate. 

She was glad she’d had the foresight to lock her room door. If any of her sisters walked in they would have been traumatised by the sight of Ben leant back on her bed, his spine touching the wall, one leg drawn up and spread wide, his fingers tangled in her hair as Rey bobbed enthusiastically up and down and along his pulsing manhood. His hands were guiding her with so much steady assurance that she hadn’t needed to use her own. She now reached up, intending to stroke the thick inches of cock that hadn’t made it into her mouth, but Ben’s voice stopped her.

“No, Omega,” he said, his tone deep and low like distant thunder.

Rey kept suckling on his warm, bulging tip as she trained her eyes on his face. What had she done wrong?

“I know you can take all of me,” he said, a thumb rubbing across the flesh of her flushed cheek.

She stared at him, concern making her sucking motions falter.

“It’s okay, baby girl,” he murmured. “Alpha will guide you. That sweet little mouth will tend to me exactly as nature intended.” 

Her heart rate picked up pace, the junction of her thighs clamping down as if on an invisible organ, slick oozing out of her cunt and dampening her skin. 

“Will you trust me, sweetheart? Submit to Alpha?”

Rey nodded, her mouth still full of his meat. He was hard and unyielding, and at her compliance he seemed to swell even more. Ben thrust his hips gently forward, humming quietly as he plumbed the depths of her hot, wet mouth. Once more his tip touched her throat and she whimpered.

“Shh,” he murmured, his expression both tender and tense. “Open up for me, baby. I know you can do it.”

Rey took in air through her nose and pushed forward, relaxing her throat like a glass snake, swallowing him down in slow inches until her nose pressed against black curls. Ben shuddered, his hands tightening their grasp in her hair so that her scalp ached. He threw back his head as she moaned, the vibrations of her narrow passage massaging every inch of his manhood.

He gave an agonised gasp, his hips stuttering as if wanting to pump in and out of her mouth. Rey didn’t think she would have survived that. She tongued his balls and gently bit down on the root of his shaft. He cursed at the mind melting pleasure of it all, his thighs beginning to tremble. 

“Rey, sweetheart, Omega, I’m gonna…”

He came like a sputtering hose, in long, liquid spurts that didn’t even touch her mouth he was so far down her throat, depositing his load in her belly. Rey drank him down with contented swallows and at last eased herself off his cock, licking his spent manhood every inch of the way, slurping on his crimson tip as it continued to ooze pearlescent seed. He grunted every time her fluttering tongue touched the over-sensitised slit, jumping when she experimentally thrust inside once.

Ben laid flat on her bed, his hands leaving her mussed hair. He seemed unable to speak and Rey was pleased. And then something occurred to her and she grew dismayed.

“Alpha,” she said, still on her knees between his legs, “I’m so sorry!”

Ben raised his head to stare blearily at her. “Sweetheart… whatever for?”

Rey looked at him with bright eyes and flushed cheeks and rosy lips, her chestnut red hair a halo of untidiness around her delicate face, and thrust her little tits at him. “You wanted to come on my breasts.”

Ben began to laugh weakly. “I’ll forgive you just this once, Omega.” He sat up and leaned forward, picking her up by the waist and pulling her onto the bed beside him. “You were perfect, Rey. Alpha is pleased.”

And for the first time in her life, Rey felt what it was like to have an Alpha male wrap his big arms around her, holding her close as if she were precious to him.

She hoped he never let go.


	9. Remember That Girl

Ben struggled to fall asleep. He lay in his mother’s old bed and reflected on the day’s events. What a prince he’d turned out to be, letting Rey give him the best blow job of his life. 

Guilt warred with satisfaction as he went through the event in its entirety, moment by moment, remembering the warmth and moisture of her little mouth, the eager stroking of her tongue and the mind melting pressure of her open throat. His orgasm was so intense he swore his brain had blown a fuse- he wasn’t sure he’d be able to put himself back together again.

But he had, more for Rey’s sake than anything else, holding her in his arms and kissing her creamy lips until she began cooing sweetly. Her response to his attention reminded him of their excruciating childhood encounter a dozen years ago, letting him know he was still an Alpha bastard underneath his veneer of control. All those Beta females he’d chosen to be with were nothing more than a smokescreen for his debauched desires for this Omega. 

Ben stirred on the bed, throwing off a blanket that smelled of camphor. He reminded himself his lust was only focused on Rey, as if it was any better he used one girl as opposed to all five. Paige’s vanilla cupcake scent, Rose’s mint julep aroma, Jannah’s golden caramel cloud and Kaydel’s rosewater pheromones were appealing, but they didn’t reduce him to a paralysis of need like the strawberry concoction Rey exuded. Even now his manhood throbbed like an iron bar at the mere memory of her. 

Maybe there was something going on between Rey and him specifically, Ben thought as he punched his cardboard thin pillow, trying to fluff it up. He’d read plenty of literature on designated biology in an effort to understand his own impulses and recalled seeing articles on Alpha-Omega couples seemingly irresistibly drawn to one another. Some called these pairs soul mates, but the scientific term for the phenomenon was dyad. 

He hadn’t done too much research on the subject since he’d already decided his life would be Omega free. His company employed Omegas, but his personal pool of assistants were all Beta and his close friends were Alpha males. If only Poe and Hux could see him now, they’d be rolling on the floor with laughter. The indomitable Ben Solo felled by one tiny Omega female with the sophistication of a street urchin.

He frowned, recalling Rose’s words of concern at the breakfast table that morning. She’d practically announced that Rey was a virgin, but how could that be? He’d been treated to a deep throating so comprehensive it had turned his legs to rubber. Ben felt a spark of anger at the idea his Omega had honed her sexual prowess with some other man. It seemed unlikely, but that had to be the case. How else could she have swallowed him whole like that?

Ben shifted so violently his foot became entangled in a loose corner of sheet which tore the fabric. He gave up all pretence of sleep. He knew what the problem was- he just didn’t want to acknowledge it.

Leia’s scent permeated this room, filling it with the shade of her presence. Once the five girls had gone through the boxes and taken what clothes or knickknacks they wanted, Ben had carried the remainder items downstairs, loading up the back seat and trunk of their wood panelled station wagon. Paige would drop off the boxes at a local charity shop before she drove into work. Still, there remained the undeniable ocean breeze fragrance of his mother in the curtains and on the furniture.

On the one hand, he found the smell comforting, a familiar maternal presence. On the other, his Alpha instincts were irritated by an interloping Alpha pheromone cloud. It had been this way at school camps as well. Ben was too dominant an Alpha to share a room with other boys and he’d been separated from his friends lest a fight break out in the middle of the night.

He got out of bed and the relief he felt was palpable. The sheets were freshly washed but old, mired with other people’s scents. He glowered at his image in the dresser mirror. He looked like a beast in black silk boxers, his raven dark hair a mess. 

He thought of Rey, her sweet, delectable scent, and just the idea of her soothed the itch in his brain. She had offered herself to him if ever he needed her, but now his pleasure was tainted by the wriggling worm of an idea that she might have betrayed him with other men.

Ben scowled, pacing the rough carpet underfoot. Who the hell did he think he was viewing her actions in terms of a betrayal? She hadn’t cheated on him. It wasn’t like they were betrothed. And how was she to know he wanted her to remain as pure as freshly fallen snow until such time he saw fit to strip her naked and pound her senseless? And why was Rey expected to remain a virgin while he dallied with every available Beta female in Coruscant?

Except logic never worked when it came to Alpha lusts. Those were driven by animal instinct. 

Ben left the master bedroom and found himself at Rey’s door, grateful she had a room to herself. He found her sweetly slumbering under a shaft of moonlight, her delicate pheromone cloud making his mouth water. 

He focused on those soft pink lips that had done such sinfully carnal things to his cock mere hours ago. All he’d wanted at the time was to push her back on her knees and have her keep suckling until he came a second time, but with Herculean effort he’d told her to go brush her teeth lest her sisters smell him on her breath. 

His desire thickened his own scent and her nose twitched like an inquisitive bunny’s. Those long, feathered lashes fluttered open and sleepy hazel eyes gazed up at him in surprise.

“A-alpha?” she murmured.

He sat by her bedside and cupped her porcelain face with one big hand. He hated himself even as he asked the question.

“Who’s your boyfriend, Rey?”

“What?” she responded, blinking confusedly even as she leaned into the warmth of his palm.

“The guy you’re seeing. Who is it?”

She shook her head, half sitting up. “There’s no guy, Alpha. I- I’ve never had a boyfriend.”

“A lover, then,” he growled. “Who taught you how to pleasure a man?”

She stared at him, realisation dawning. “You did.”

He retracted his hand and she gave him a look of distress.

“Are you telling me that’s the first time you’ve given a blow job? Really, Rey?”

She drew back until her shoulders pressed against the bedroom wall and he regretted letting her go. 

“You have no right to ask me that,” she whispered, sounding hurt. 

“Answer me, Omega,” he snarled, his voice like the crack of a whip.

He saw her struggle to disobey his direct command, but ultimately she succumbed.

“I was put on suppressants when I first entered puberty, but the medications sometime failed. Leia got me a couple of toys in case of emergencies, if ever I needed to… pleasure myself.” Rey flushed redder with every word she spoke. “I would sometimes practice swallowing one,” she admitted shakily. “I know Leia wanted us to be independent, but I still dreamed of having a mate, someone who’d love me, and I wanted to be able to s-satisfy h-him.” Her final words wobbled with unshed tears and she drew to a halt, refusing to look at him.

Ben felt like a monster for making Rey expose her secret. She turned away from him, burying her face in her pillow. Her pitiful attempts were no match for his strength, however, and he pulled her into his lap, kissing her quivering lips until she whimpered and let him in, his tongue dancing inside her mouth as she clung to his arms. 

“I’m sorry,” he said at last, when her tears had dried and her embarrassment abated. “I shouldn’t have compelled you to answer me. I had no right.”

“Please don’t do that again,” she whispered, her face downcast. 

Her plea was like a dagger slicing through his heart and he groaned, nuzzling her neck. He kissed the sensitive skin there and she twitched in his embrace.

“You’re not wearing very much,” Rey said suddenly.

“Can’t sleep,” he muttered.

He felt her little hand reach up to stroke his mussed hair and he huffed into her neck.

“Why not?”

“Leia’s scent is everywhere,” he admitted. “She’s my mother but she was also an Alpha. It upsets me.”

“You can have my bed,” Rey offered hesitantly, “and I’ll sleep in the master bedroom.”

“I’ll take your bed,” Ben agreed, “but only if you’re in it.”

He heard the breath catch in her throat and this pleased him. She still wanted him, this Omega, even if he’d behaved like an Alpha monster.

He lifted his head and blindly found her lips, kissing her once more until she lay soft and pliant in his arms. When their tongues ached and their skin radiated heat, Ben pulled back and she laid her head on his pecs, snuggling into his chest as if she wanted to disappear inside him. 

“Well?” Ben asked, seeking permission even though it went against the grain of everything he was.

He knew he could command Rey to let him into her bed, take her responsive kisses as implied consent and simply slide under the blankets, but he’d already violated her once that night and he didn’t want to do so again.

She was looking at him strangely, and he knew she wondered whether her yea or nay would hold any power. 

“What if I say no, Ben?”

He bit back an irritable growl. “Then I’ll sleep on the couch downstairs.”

Rey kissed him chastely on the cheek, little hands rubbing his bare chest. “That won’t be necessary. I would do anything for you, Alpha,” she admitted shyly.

Ben sighed with deep, unfathomable satisfaction. 

He reached down and grabbed the hem of her nightgown, a garment that looked like an oversized navy blue t-shirt with a scattering of yellow stars, and pulled it over her head, leaving her bare. This he did as was his right, exposing his Omega’s slender form for his pleasure. His boxers drifted to the floor and once they were both naked he slid under her rumpled blankets, taking Rey with him.

She squeaked as she snuggled close, skinny arms wrapped around his neck and her head laid upon one broad shoulder. Little breasts pressed flat against his chest and one of her legs was akimbo, hooked around his lean hip. His cock was hard and swollen, pressed against her flat belly as he hugged her to him, but he resolved to abstain from sex. At least for tonight. 

Now that he was cocooned in Rey’s scent, he was able to close his eyes and drift away. Ben fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.


	10. She's Imperfect But She Tries

Rey awoke pinned beneath a mountain of a man and struggling to breathe. 

She tried to wriggle out from under Ben but he grunted and threw an arm wide, grabbing a handful of boob and returning her to his side. She gave a chirruping sound like an alarmed baby bird and this finally got through to him, amber eyes opening and plush lips curling in a slow smile. 

“Good morning,” he said huskily, and Rey felt her distress melt away.

She smiled shyly back at him, painfully aware she was naked and vulnerable, wrapped in blankets and a big, hard muscled Alpha. Something poked her in the belly and she looked down, amazed to see his manhood already hard and erect.

“Alpha?” she said, and it was a question loaded with innuendo.

_Do you need me, Alpha?_

_Shall I tend to you, Alpha?_

_May I suck your cock, Alpha?_

Ben chuckled and rolled into a more comfortable position, taking her with him. “It’s alright, sweetheart. I wake up like this most mornings. You don’t have to…”

But Rey slipped his grasp and slid down his long body, her chin bumping his steel erection before she sucked the bulging head deep inside her mouth. She hummed contentedly as she nursed on his cock, and Ben groaned in appreciation. One big hand searched under the blankets to tangle in her hair as she alternated between licking big, warm balls and sliding more and more inches of throbbing shaft down her pliant throat.

He came hard and fast, primed as he was first thing in the morning, and she slurped him like a vanilla milkshake, even cleaning his cock afterwards. When she was done, Rey laid her head on his chest, listening to the beat of her Alpha’s heart.

Her Alpha. Except, he wasn’t, was he? She felt the sudden sting of tears and furiously blinked them away.

What was she doing? In three months, Ben would be gone and she would be left with nothing except memories to sharpen the knife edge of loneliness. The taste of him in her mouth would turn to ashes, and yet she couldn’t find the strength to deny him. Hadn’t she promised her body to him for solace? When she thought about it, however, Ben hadn’t exactly taken advantage of her offer. She was the one who kept jumping his bones. 

_Who would want you, Rey? Not even your own parents._

Rey sat up, wishing to dispel the ugly thoughts in her head. She’d struggled with rejection her whole life. It was what made her such a good daughter. She worked hard to get exceptional grades and help look after her sisters, always putting others before herself, always looking to Leia for approval. She’d even applied for the college course she thought Leia wanted.

Ben’s question about her own wants and desires had stung. That wasn’t how she was made. Rey would rather please those around her than seek her own fulfilment.

_Pathetic._

“Rey, what is it?” Ben was fully awake now, looking at her with concern.

She couldn’t tell him what she was thinking. It wasn’t his fault she was broken.

She faked a smile and opted for an easy answer. “I have class today so I should start getting ready…” She caught sight of the digital clock on her study desk and let out a shriek.

“What now?” Ben demanded, his irritation making her quail.

“I’m late,” she gasped, diving for her closet and pulling out clothes. “Why didn’t anyone wake me?”

“They probably realised I was in here with you,” Ben said, sounding amused.

“This isn’t funny,” she told him, fishing around in a drawer for underwear. “Paige takes the car to work so I need to catch a bus. I have to study twice as hard as everyone else just to be taken seriously and my professor already doesn’t like me, so if I stroll into the lecture hall late…”

“You’re wasting time, Omega,” Ben interrupted her panicked diatribe, his voice calm.

She stumbled out the door and ran for the bathroom she shared with her sisters, grateful that at this hour of the day they’d have already left for work or school. It took her fifteen minutes to have a quick shower, brush her teeth and tie up her hair in multiple buns. She threw on a t-shirt and jeans, grabbing her zebra print bagpack before running down the stairs. She was rummaging through the bowl on the table in the hallway when Ben appeared.

She stared at him, freshly showered and shaved, dressed in a khaki green Henley tee and ripped black jeans. His Air Jordans looked brand new. 

“Come on,” he said, crooking his head. “I’ll drop you off.”

Rey was so relieved she didn’t argue. She found her keys and handed him Leia’s old set, watching Ben smirk as he read the pink laminated keychain that said, ‘I was a sweetheart until I became a social worker’. 

As it turned out, Rey had nothing to be worried about. It took Ben a mere fifteen minutes to get her to campus in his fancy car. He parked on the street, in front of a sign proclaiming this was Jakku Central College, a misnomer since their location was central to nothing.

“Thank you, Alph- Ben,” Rey said, amazed as she looked at the time. 

“It’s the least I can do,” he grinned. “You wouldn’t be running so late if you hadn’t, um, looked after me when we woke up.”

Rey blushed furiously, the morning’s activities temporarily forgotten in her panic. “What will you do today?” she asked meekly.

“I told my people I needed a couple of days to orient myself to life in Jakku, but I can only imagine the number of e-mails waiting for me,” he said. “Time to get back to work.”

She nodded. “They must be missing you.”

“It’s what happens when you’re the boss,” he agreed. “Maybe it’s time I started delegating responsibilities, see how my managers respond.” He seemed surprised to be considering that.

“Thank you again, Alpha,” Rey said, exiting the car.

“Rey,” he called, and she bent over when he rolled down the car window, “what time will you be home?”

“Class finishes at one and it takes me about forty-five minutes to ride the bus home, so around two?” she replied.

“Then I’ll see you at two, Omega,” Ben murmured, and something in his tone made her pulse pick up speed.

“A-alpha?”

“Don’t be late, baby.” 

It was a command, she realised. Rey swallowed hard. “Yes, Alpha.”

She should have been mad that he would attempt to control her, but all she felt was satisfaction that Alpha wanted her home with him. Rey could have pushed back, reminding Ben she had her own priorities in which he played no part, but she simply didn’t want to.

She walked to class in an Omega fog, her desire for Ben buzzing just below the surface of her tanned skin, which was why it took her a second to realise the hooting and hollering coming from the front lawn was aimed at her.

She snuck a look, not wanting to acknowledge the catcalling boys. As the only Omega on campus, she came in for quite a bit of attention. She glimpsed four of them, typical Beta brickheads, more interested in trying to look like cool Alphas than attending class. Rey kept walking, knowing it only riled them up more if she tried to stand up for herself.

They were mostly harmless and almost preferable to the other strata of students who pretended she didn’t exist. She was shocked, therefore, when she felt a tug on her bagpack. Rey spun around, startled to see one of the boys had run up right behind her, determined to get a reaction. 

“Hey, what’s your name? You’re the Omega co-ed, aren’t you? I’m Snap.” Snap was a big boy, chunky with the kind of physique that was ran more toward muscle than fat.

She gaped at him, too surprised to respond. 

His expression remained pleasant as he said, “Come on, Omega. Don’t be a stuck up bitch.”

Rey shuddered at the cold cruelty under his good ol’ boy veneer. Evil never looked evil; mostly it masqueraded as stupidity. 

“That’s right,” Snap snickered. “I know you want me, Omega slut. Why don’t we head to the back of study hall and see if we can’t find ourselves a private corner? Unless you don’t mind if I screw you on the lawn in front of my buddies…”

A shadow fell over Snap and that was his only warning before an arm snaked around his throat and pulled tight, cutting off his air supply and bringing him crashing to his knees.

 _Alpha._ No, his name was Ben. Ben was here.

Rey blinked. Why was Ben here? She experienced both relief and confusion.

Snap’s three friends ran to help him but Ben merely lifted his head and growled, baring elongated canines. The Betas came to a halt, intimidated by the raw power of the man strangling their friend. 

“You boys think it’s funny to torment an Omega female?” Ben asked, his voice as dark as the bottom of a well.

Snap’s mates took a step back and Snap himself stopped struggling in Ben’s grip.

“You think you’re strong because you can scare a girl?” Ben continued, amber eyes ablaze. “Only cowards prey on the defenceless. This stops today, you hear me?”

The three boys watching their captive friend nodded furiously.

Ben smacked Snap upside the head with an open palm, the sound echoing in the courtyard. “You have a job. I want you to tell everyone you know this Omega is claimed.” 

Rey let out an involuntary whimper as she heard the words, ecstasy battling with disbelief. She told herself not to lose her head. Ben had only said that so she would be protected from other males. He didn’t actually want her for himself.

“Anyone who touches Rey will have me to deal with.” Ben shook Snap like a rag doll. “And you owe her an apology.”

Eyes bulging out of his head, Snap croaked, “I- I’m sorry.”

Ben released him and he fell sprawling on the cobblestoned path. “Get him out of my sight,” Ben snarled, and Snap’s friends hustled him away. 

Rey realised they’d drawn a crowd and was horrified. Ben remained supremely in control, pulling her into his arms, his anger radiating like waves from his tight musculature.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered. “I can handle the teasing. What are you even doing here?”

He shrugged. “I thought I’d check out your school and was walking the campus when I saw that jackass run up behind you. That’s unacceptable behaviour, Rey, and not just because you’re an Omega. No female should be pounced on by a man she doesn’t even know.”

Rey nodded slowly. “I guess Snap got a lesson in manners today.”

“Who?” Ben frowned.

She giggled and he kissed her, wrapping his arms around her slight form and consuming her lips until she was breathless and flushed. At last, he let her go.

“Home at two,” he reminded as she turned to leave.

Rey nodded, impulsively squeezing his hand.

Was this what it was like belonging to an Alpha, or was this just what it was like belonging to Ben Solo? Either way, her new guardian was proving to be quite the experience.


	11. She Is Hard On Herself

Rey was late.

Ben spent the morning setting up a work station of sorts in the living room- he swore the couch was the same dilapidated relic from his visit twelve years ago- and fielding panicked calls from his management team at Skywalker Solutions. Add a series of text messages from one of his best friend’s Poe demanding to know what the hell he thought he was doing and a scathing e-mail from his other best mate Hux asking if his medicated ruts had finally loosened the screws in his brain, and Ben was more than ready for Rey to return home.

He knew he hadn’t done her any favours by rushing to her defence that morning, but he’d lost his temper seeing the Beta male hassling her. The next time Rey was on the receiving end of some man’s need to dominate an Omega he wouldn’t be there to protect her, and the thought drove him crazy.

He’d claimed her verbally, jackass that he was. Ben caught sight of Rey’s face when he spoke the words, a cautious joy brightening her whole being, but surely she realised he’d only said it to ensure no other Betas bothered her. A true Alpha would be able to sniff out the truth regardless. Ben would have to sink his teeth into her gland for her pheromone trail to shift, declaring her mated.

His teeth tingled at the idea and he told himself to snap out of it. The last thing he wanted was to saddle himself with an Omega wife… right?

Ben glanced at his wristwatch and scowled. Rey was fifteen minutes late. He reached for his cellphone to call her when he heard the front door open. He entered the hallway, arms crossed over his chest.

“Where the hell have you been?” he growled.

Rey started, nearly overbalancing in the midst of tugging off her sneakers. He’d noticed the sisters had a habit of running around the house on bare feet like a bunch of woodland nymphs. The arid Jakku heat and the sputtering air-conditioning unit in the house meant it was always warm.

“I’m sorry, Alpha,” she squeaked, hazel eyes big in her delicate face. “I had to return a book to the library and it made me late for the bus, so I waited for the next one to arrive…”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses, Omega,” he growled. “You broke your promise.”

Her little lips quivered. “I- I didn’t mean to, Alpha.”

Ben considered her silently, a quicksilver jolt of desire warming his blood. He was enjoying this, he realised, enjoying his power over Rey. Dominant and in charge. Beta women were not like her, this incredibly soft and pliant female. They had no scent clouds that filled his head with thoughts of endless copulation.

“Come here,” he ordered, and Rey scuttled over to stand before him, her eyes on his face in trepidation and… yes, there it was, a frission of excitement. She wanted to play. Good girl. 

They had the house to themselves for the next couple of hours and Ben intended to put that time to good use.

He cupped her chin, running his thumb over her lips. “Bad Omegas need to be punished, sweetheart,” he murmured. “That’s what I’m gonna have to do.”

“Y-yes, Alpha,” Rey replied, swaying closer to him. 

He threw her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes, making her squeal as he walked up the stairs with her, one hand on her blue-jeaned backside. He took Rey to her bedroom, dropping her unceremoniously on the unmade bed and tugging off her clothes, stripping away her t-shirt and jeans, her hair coming undone in the process. At last she stood before him in a lacey cream bralette and blue flowered bikini panties, the combination simply adorable.

“Alpha, did you want me to…”

“Hush, Omega,” he said, his voice a low growl. Her eyes had been on his bulging crotch but now they snapped back to his face. “I’ll set your punishment, do you understand?”

She nodded, licking her lips. He almost laughed. She was so eager, his little one. So greedy for him.

“I can’t hear you, Omega.”

“Yes, Alpha,” she gasped.

“Get on the bed. I want you on your hands and knees,” he instructed, so warm with desire that he stripped off his shirt and tossed it into a corner of the room. She scrambled to obey and he added, “Make sure you point that little tushy my way.”

Rey shot him an apprehensive look but did as she was told, her panty-clad behind so small it could fit into one of his hands.

“Perfect,” Ben sighed, unbuckling his belt and undoing the buttons of his fly to allow his straining cock room to breathe. “Have you ever been spanked, Omega?” he asked, his tone like velvet.

“N-no, Alpha,” she whimpered.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” he murmured, pleased with her answer. There were so many firsts he wanted to have with Rey. He would ruin her for every other man that came after him. “I think fifteen smacks is about right,” he continued conversationally, as if this was a discussion and she had a say in the matter. “One for every minute you were late.”

“Yes, Alpha,” she moaned.

“You’ll count each one out loud, Omega.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

His first smack of her bottom was nothing more than a firm pat since he wanted to warm her up. Rey gave a high pitched squeak in surprise rather than pain.

“One,” she called.

His next spank had more vigour and he made sure to cover both her cheeks.

“T-two,” she gasped.

He noticed a dark spot of moisture growing in the gusset of her panties and smiled, spanking her again.

“Three,” she said, her voice grown shaky.

 _Smack, smack, smack._ He spanked her three more times in quick succession. 

“Four, five, six,” she said, the words coming out garbled.

Ben grabbed her pert buttocks and massaged them, two fingers stroking the damp cotton covering her gushing slit. “I think you’re liking your punishment a little too much, Rey,” he observed. “What a rude little Omega you are.”

“I’m sorry, Alpha,” she wailed. “I can’t help it.”

He smacked her hard across the bottom another three times and she cried out.

“S-seven, eight, nine,” she choked.

“Don’t tell me what you can and cannot do, Omega,” he snarled. “You will do as I command.”

_Smack._

“Ten!” 

“Bad Omega,” he declared, delivering another stinging spank. “Let’s make sure you feel this punishment for the next few days, shall we?”

“E-eleven. P-please, Alpha.”

“Please what, baby?” he asked, smacking her again.

“Twelve,” she moaned. “Please, it hurts.”

Ben leaned over and pushed up her cotton bralette, freeing her perky breasts before tearing into the fabric of her panties and throwing away the shreds. Rey’s creamy bottom was covered in red handprints, her pink slice oozing like fresh honeycomb. The smell of her need was overwhelming and he leaned close to breathe her in. 

“Just three more, Omega,” he spoke, his lips so close to her plump cunt that it twitched at the warm tickle of his breath. “Can you be a good girl and take your punishment? Alpha wants to be proud of his Omega.”

“Yes, Alpha,” she sobbed.

He gentled his hand with the final three spanks, knowing her reddened buttocks were already quite tender. She called out the final count and collapsed on her belly, weeping quietly into her blankets.

All Ben wanted to do was devour the glistening pink cunt before him, her nether lips gaping like a hothouse flower that had bloomed. Instead, he picked up Rey in his arms, kissing her face and stroking her hair, letting her know how good she’d been, his sweet little Omega. 

Her tears went on for longer than he liked and he grew concerned. “Rey, what’s wrong, sweetheart? Did I hurt you?”

“N-no,” she mumbled into his chest. “I just… I want to be perfect for you and I f-failed, Alpha.”

Ben groaned, kissing his sensitive Omega on the lips. “Baby, we were just playing,” he said. “You’re allowed to run late because of a missed connection.”

She lifted her wet face from his chest and stared up at him. “Really?”

“Yes, sweetheart. I just wanted to try something new. I enjoyed disciplining you.”

She blushed hotly. “I liked it too, Alpha.”

“I could tell,” he grinned, one hand sliding between her thighs to cup her aching mound.

She moaned and squirmed in his embrace and he chuckled. He went back to kissing her on the lips as his hand explored her wet cunt, sliding one, two, then three fingers deep inside her pink slot, pumping them in and out of her tight little passage. Her hips jerked in accompaniment to the rhythm he set, hazel eyes glazed and almost pure green as she whimpered and whined. When she was almost ready to burst, he stretched out his thumb and tapped the diamond hard spiral of her clit. 

Rey orgasmed with a soft scream, her spine arching and her skin dewy with sweat. “Alpha!” she called out. “Alpha, Alpha, Alpha…”

He kept going, wet squelching sounds filling the room as he pumped her quim with his hand, rubbing her ruby bud in sensual circles. She writhed as wave after wave of sweet, sharp orgasmic bliss turned her body rigid. It was several long, sticky minutes before she’d had enough and her thighs clamped together, her cunt oversensitized with pleasure.

Ben withrew his hand and licked clean dripping fingers. “Mmm, delicious,” he declared. “I think it’s time I stick my tongue in your kitty, don’t you?”

Rey fluttered her lashes at him in unspoken delight, rosy lips quivering and little breasts heaving. 

He sucked each of her nipples for a quick moment before moving down her slender form, spreading damp thighs. He was ready to provide her with a most succulent and carnal kiss when there came an interruption.

Somewhere downstairs a voice called out in no uncertain terms, “Hellooo! Rey? Where are you?”


	12. She Is Good But She Lies

After Leia’s death, Maz Kanata had been the caregiver and support Rey needed, but right now she could have killed the old woman. She gazed despairingly at Ben as he started getting dressed, indicating she should do the same.

“Is that your social worker at the door?” he asked, and Rey nodded, still unable to wrap her mind around the fact Alpha was about to eat her out and now that ship was sailing far, far away.

“Rey?” Ben said amusedly. “Get dressed, sweetheart. This is one visitor you probably need to see.”

He was right, of course. She wiped slick thighs with her discarded t-shirt and found a faded cotton dress to put on. Fishing out a fresh pair of panties, she said, “You shouldn’t tear my underwear, Alpha. I have a limited wardrobe.”

He gave her a look that smouldered and her stomach did a flip. “Baby, I’ll do what I want when we’re having sex. Before the three months is over, I’ll take you and your sisters on a shopping trip and you can replenish supplies.”

Rey laughed, standing on tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek. Ben was an Alpha through and through, but he was nothing like what Leia had warned them about. Maybe there were good males out there after all.

“Rey! Where are you, girl?”

She quickly pulled her hair into a ponytail before running downstairs to greet Maz. By the look on the little lady’s face, Ben had followed right behind her.

“You’re Leia’s son,” Maz said after giving Rey a perfunctory kiss on the cheek.

Ben appeared taken aback by the tiny old Beta woman with her brilliant orange fake tan and hessian sack dress accessorised with a dozen beaded turquoise necklaces. Maz’s coke bottle glasses only highlighted her merry brown eyes. 

“Yes, ma’am,” Ben said politely, and Rey bit back a smile.

Maz had that effect on people. In some ways, she was more intimidating that Leia.

She marched up to Ben and peered at him for so long the big Alpha began to look uncomfortable. At last, she declared, “You have her eyes, my dear.” She patted him on the arm in motherly fashion.

Maz demanded a drink so the three of them ended up around the kitchen table. As Rey boiled water and uncovered the special loose leaf tea Leia kept for Maz’s visits, from a time when she’d drop by as nothing more than family friend, Maz grilled Ben on his stay at the house, asking him a variety of pointed questions. Ben answered amiably enough. 

Rey was loading up a tray with a red polka dot teapot, teacups, a sugar bowl and a tiny jug of milk when she heard Maz say, “Now you be careful with her, young man. She’s not as tough as she looks.”

Rey froze where she stood, flushing pink as Maz turned knowing eyes on her. 

“Really, Maz, there’s nothing going on,” Rey muttered, walking the tray over and placing it before the old woman like an offering.

Maz snorted truck driver style. “Sure, honey, whatever you say.”

“Ben will return to Coruscant as soon as I turn twenty-one,” Rey persisted, not looking at him. “He’s been very kind taking time out of his busy schedule to help us.”

Maz took a sip of sweet milky tea and smacked her lips. “I don’t doubt it,” she agreed, “but if your pheromones were gasoline, this house would have burned down by now. And I’m Beta- I don’t even sense these things unless it’s as thick as pea soup!”

Ben cleared his throat and Rey bit her lip. 

“Far be it from me to stop two consenting adults from doing what nature intended,” Maz continued to Rey’s embarrassment. “All I’m saying is be careful, please.”

Rey looked at her in surprise. “Is that it?”

“Did you want more?” Maz replied.

“No, that’s really not necessary,” Ben said quickly, making her cackle like a witch in a fairy tale.

“I expected a lecture about how disappointed Leia would be in me,” Rey admitted, regretting the words as soon as they tumbled out of her mouth. 

Ben stared at her, startled by this.

Maz gave a sad smile. “Poor Leia,” she murmured to Rey’s astonishment. “It’s not easy being an Omega, I know, but imagine being an Alpha in a woman’s body. Leia was so devastated by the breakdown of her marriage she started to think it would have been better had she never married at all. She passed on that prejudice to you girls.” Maz gave Ben a smile. “You were her one consolation- proof she hadn’t erred completely.”

Ben shook his head. “My parents used to fight like savages. I thought mom was relieved to be done with all the acrimony.”

“Relieved, yes, but also heartbroken. She loved your father deeply, Ben, as only an Alpha can love, with all her heart and soul and mind. She never looked at another man no matter how many times we tried to encourage her in that direction. No one could compare to Han Solo.” Maz reached out and touched his hand. “Don’t let your parents legacy prevent you from entering into your own happiness.”

Rey met Ben’s eyes and his gaze skittered away from hers. She hadn’t considered the possibility that he might be dealing with his own baggage.

“And you,” Maz snapped, turning bright eyes on Rey, “the belonging you seek is not behind, it is in front of you. Stop living your life for Leia. She had hopes and dreams for you, Rey, but above all else she wanted you to be your own woman, regardless of designation.”

Rey felt like a piece of glass Maz had seen straight through. She didn’t know how to respond and was grateful when the front door opened, announcing the return of Rose, Jannah and Kaydel since it was one of Jannah’s days off. Soon the kitchen was full of conversation, Maz making Ben laugh as she turned her razor sharp tongue onto each girl. A couple of hours later Paige arrived, just in time for Rose’s patented spaghetti dinner.

Rey enjoyed the meal, pleased to have Maz there and happy to see Ben looking relaxed, even with Kaydel insisting she sit beside him, loving the fact that her little family was together. If it hadn’t been for Ben, none of this would be possible.

And yet underneath it all her heart ached, turning over Maz’s perceptive observations in her mind. The old woman was right. Rey was tired living for other people, so over going through the motions. She didn’t want to just be safe as Leia had taught her; she wanted a real life and a future. She was tasting it now with Ben by her side, his presence overwhelming her senses, making her body come alive, but what about when he returned to Coruscant? Rey would be left behind in Jakku, only now she’d have lost the best thing that had ever happened to her.

Ben reached out and took her hand, warming cold fingers. She was always so cold in comparison to him. Alphas ran hot, of course, but she wondered if there was something innately frostbitten about her, she who’d never learnt to take a leap of faith. And then he was pulling her close, drawing her chair even nearer to him so she could lean against his side, his arm around her shoulders, fingers playing with her ponytail, soothing, comforting without speaking a word. She allowed his familiarity. 

Rey saw her sisters take notice, exchanging glances with one another. Kaydel seemed childishly resentful she wasn’t the one in Rey’s place, Rose bemused and Jannah curiously pleased. It was Paige whose expression surprised her the most, revealing a longing that Rey recognised as her own. 

After they said good night to Maz, Ben called a family meeting to inform them he was hiring an interior decorator.

“I need the master bedroom refreshed if I’m going to stay there,” he told the five Omegas. “Leia’s scent is everywhere and it’s making it impossible for me to sleep.”

“Is that your excuse for being in Rey’s bed?” Jannah smirked, and Rey threw a breadstick at her head.

Ben didn’t reply to her comment, though he grinned. “It’ll be at my own cost, of course. Paint, new carpet, maybe even new furniture. I know someone I trust. Their company did my apartment and offices in Coruscant.”

“What else?” Rey asked to everyone’s surprise. 

“Isn’t that enough?” Rose laughed.

Rey realised she was learning how to read Ben. He had more to say but was holding back. “You can tell us, Alpha,” she said simply.

“I’d like to repaint the whole house,” Ben admitted. “New flooring as well. Let me do this for you guys. It means you won’t have to think about maintenance costs for years to come.” 

“I don’t know,” Paige said when Rey didn’t protest. “That seems like a lot, Ben.”

Alpha wanted to look after them. Having spent time with him, Rey was confident there were no ulterior motives with this male, but her sisters had to agree.

“I don’t want to be in debt to you,” Jannah spoke bluntly.

Ben laughed. “You won’t be. I have cufflinks that cost more than what it would to update this place.”

“For real?” Rose asked, looking interested. “So you’re actually a billionaire? It’s not just media hyperbole.”

“My company is worth billions,” he confirmed, “but it’s not like I have a swimming pool filled with hundred dollar bills.”

“Like Scrooge McDuck,” Kaydel piped up unexpectedly, making them laugh and providing a welcome break in tension.

“Rey, what do you think?” Paige asked, getting to the heart of the matter.

And Rey knew her sisters would follow wherever she led. Sometimes she forgot the influence she held over them- it was a huge responsibility.

“I trust Ben,” she said quietly.

And that was that.

Later that night, after she had brushed her teeth, Rey entered her bedroom to find Ben already there. The sight of his big, broad frame and sculpted muscles was enough to turn her into a puddle of need. 

She was on her knees without him needing to ask, inhaling his stiff cock like a champion sword swallower, enjoying the feel and taste of his meaty sex, drinking down his creamy seed with great relish. She loved all of him with a lust that shocked her homely sensibilities. She couldn’t control herself around Ben. And afterwards, when he undressed her and pulled her into bed with him, the single mattress barely able to handle their combined bulk so she had to be wrapped inside his arms, it was even better. 

Rey told the persistent ache in her heart to go away. She had this Alpha for the next three months and she intended to enjoy him completely and without reservation. Reality would come crashing through the gates soon enough without her hurrying it along.


	13. She Is Broken And Won't Ask For Help

Ben started his day with a mouthful of Rey. 

His sweet Omega had been wriggling her way down the bed to tend to his morning wood when he pulled her back up and seated her on his face. He held her by the buttocks as he diligently ate her out, his tongue deep inside her clenching quim, slick drizzling into his open mouth. 

He stroked her tight velvet passage with his thumbs and his tongue explored as deep as it could go, easing her open and nibbling slick flesh. The bud of her clitoris was like a tiny red jewel and he lapped and circled and sucked the starbright cluster of nerves until she was calling out _“Alpha”,_ half in gratitude and half begging for mercy, her hands clutching his shoulders like a lifeline. 

He’d always considered himself a fairly generous lover but the noises coming from Rey as she climaxed on his tongue made him giddy with delight. He loved knowing she was shuddering in the throes of orgasmic pleasure because of him, her cunt melting against his lips time and time again. He practically purred seeing her stumble about as she dressed for school, her motor functions inhibited by the multiple orgasms that had blossomed in her core and exploded in her brain, all supplied by him. Their playtime left him buzzing with endorphins. It was a great way to begin the day. 

Ben sent an e-mail to Phasma Interiors first thing after breakfast and was pleasantly surprised when the company’s proprietor, Gwendolyn Phasma, called an hour later, her voice laced with curiousity.

“Tell me it’s not true,” she exclaimed in her polished English accent. “Have you really left Coruscant for Jakku?”

“Of course not,” Ben laughed, simultaneously typing out a scathing response to one of his suppliers on his laptop. “Not permanently anyway.” 

He explained his situation as vaguely as he could, not wanting to expose Rey and her sisters to an outsider, and Phasma vowed to send someone from her firm to provide a quote on the house as soon as possible. 

‘As soon as possible’ turned out to be quite a literal promise. Ben was taken aback when he opened the front door later that afternoon and found Gwen standing on the porch. There was a horrified expression on her face as she assessed the peeling green façade of the building and he could only guess how she’d react to the thrift store furniture on the inside.

“I should have known I’d get the personal treatment,” he said as she kissed him on both cheeks, bathing him in a cloud of expensive perfume. The fragrance irritated his nostrils after days of living with Rey’s lush, organic scent.

If anyone had the look of an Alpha female it was Gwen, though she was actually a highly capable Beta. She embodied the word statuesque; over six feet in height with a competition swimmer’s athletic frame, long and leanly muscled. She had the clear complexion of an English rose with bright blue eyes and golden blonde hair that was worn stylishly short. 

She was fashionably dressed as always in a tailored dress that was both attractive and businesslike, a sleeveless peach silk sheath with a scooped neckline and an A-line skirt, the colour complementing her complexion, her high heeled pumps the exact same shade. A cream coloured trench was draped over one arm.

“Darling, this place is a nightmare!” Gwen declared in her usual strident tones. 

While Ben agreed, he was glad Rey wasn’t home yet to hear this stranger’s disparaging opinion of the place she’d grown up in and still called home. 

“And look at you,” the blonde woman continued. “I didn’t realise you owned casual clothes.”

Ben grinned at this. He missed his closet full of designer suits, but there was something to be said for working in t-shirt and jeans. 

“I didn’t bring you here for your sartorial advice,” he responded.

“Obviously,” Gwen said, walking past him uninvited into the kitchen. “Dear God, is that cabinetry from the seventies? Darling, it’s lime green.”

He started to laugh. He’d been so busy trying to make sure the five Omegas around him were comfortable with his presence that he’d pushed the condition of the house to the back of his mind. 

“Half the appliances don’t work either,” he thought to mention as Gwen whipped out her phone and began taking pictures and making notes. It was what he liked most about her- she was business first always. 

“Of course, they don’t,” Gwen said, tugging on a broken blind. “Most electricals have a shelf life of about ten years, not thirty from the looks of these things.”

“I don’t think the purchase of state-of-the-art European appliances were a focus in this household.”

“Hmph. Colour pallet?” she queried.

“Cool neutrals,” Ben replied. “Something that will make the house an oasis from the Jakku heat. I don’t care what you’re thinking, so long as we get rid of the green walls.”

“I didn’t realise paint came in shades of hangover vomit and baby puke green,” Gwen muttered, pulling out a tape measure and taking down figures.

“Now, Gwen,” Ben replied, “this used to be my mother’s house.”

“The poor woman,” came the blonde’s acidic response.

By the time Rey returned from school they had progressed to the living room, which Ben had to admit was rather a large space and open to artistic interpretation. His little Omega greeted him with a radiant smile that faded when she caught sight of Gwen. 

Ben quickly introduced them, but Rey continued to watch the decorator as if she was a feral jungle cat. The other woman was rather daunting with her uncensored opinions, he supposed, though Ben reassured Rey that Gwen was a genius at what she did.

He noticed Gwen’s eyes run curiously over Rey as she continued to work and it made his Alpha gland prickle. Rey looked about sixteen in her cheerful yellow tank top and faded denim miniskirt, and he wondered what depravities the blonde woman was conjuring up in her mind. 

The other girls started returning home by the time they’d moved upstairs and Phasma’s expression grew even more guarded as Rose, Jannah and Kaydel made appearances to stare at the interloper. Ben realised the collection of young Omega females must make him appear like a sleazy Alpha taking advantage of a precarious situation and he reminded himself there wasn’t anything wrong going on.

Once Gwen finished taking photos, measuring rooms and making notes, Ben called a family meeting to discuss basic design elements for the house. It took Rey and her sisters some time before they began opening up, but everyone agreed straight away the green paintwork had to go. 

Gwen knew how to handle inexperienced clients and she presented them with options for the flooring, paint and window furnishings. Ben was pleased to see the sisters take ownership of various decorating choices and by the close of the discussion, they were looking excited about the renovations, where before it was just something their strange new Alpha guardian was doing to make his life more comfortable.

Before she returned to Coruscant, Gwen requested a final conversation about the master bedroom and the two of them left the sisters in the kitchen preparing dinner.

“Well, this is quite the turn around,” the decorator said once they were alone.

Ben looked pointedly at her. “I thought you had more questions about this room.”

“Oh no, I got it all,” she responded breezily. “I just wanted to have a chat before I left.”

Ben glanced at the open door but there was no one in the hallway to listen in to their conversation. “What about?” he asked, refusing to make this easy for Gwen. If she had something to say, she could do so without his prompting.

She hesitated. “We’re not just business acquaintances, right, Ben? You’d consider me a friend.”

He arched a brow in her direction. “Sure.”

“So as a friend, let me ask you this. What are you doing?”

He stiffened where he stood. “Excuse me?”

“I thought you were Omega free,” Gwen said, her tone careful. “I distinctly remember you telling me you didn’t like how they made you feel.”

“I was,” he agreed, “but Rey and her sisters needed my help, so here I am. These girls are my mother’s legacy, Gwen. I couldn’t just leave them to the mercy of social services.”

“Rey…” Gwen murmured, a curious smile on her face. “So she’s the one.” 

“Excuse me?” Ben asked, growing annoyed. He was feeling protective of his girl. 

“I knew you had to be shagging one of those little floozies,” Gwen smirked. “I expected to find you all keyed up and angry, but instead you’re as chill as a man on a tropical island getaway, if that island was populated by Omegas. I admit, I’m surprised by your choice.”

“How so?” he asked bemused. 

“I mean, look at the women you’ve been with in the past. Bazine was the flashiest of your girlfriends, but even she proved you had a type. Tall, blonde… beautiful, of course.”

As insolent as she was being, Ben realised he was almost curious to hear what else Gwen had to say. She was right that none of this- his moving to Jakku and shacking up with five Omega females, as well as his extraordinary connection to Rey- made any sense. 

“I would have understood if you picked Paige as your lover. She’s got that exotic kind of beauty men go crazy for. I have no doubt there’s Asian blood in her veins with her almond eyes and silky straight dark hair. And Jannah is a total stunner. That girl could feature in Vogue with those lips and cheekbones. Hopefully she grows a couple more inches and makes it as a model.”

“Jannah’s underaged, but thank you for the observation,” Ben said sarcastically. 

But Gwen was still speaking. “Instead you picked Rey, with her doe eyes and sunshine smile and pixie body. She’s nothing like what you usually take to bed. Are you sure there isn’t something else going on, Ben? Some kind of oedipal complex you’re not working through?”

“Good grief,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s a good thing we are friends, Gwen, because talk like that could get someone fired.” 

She gave a tinkling laugh and swayed closer, almost able to meet his eyes in her high heels. “I came here for you, Ben, not the job. Remember when you used to call me for a shag to take the edge off? I was hoping I’d find you… edgy.”

He chuckled at her audacity. “As you can see, I’m not.”

“No,” Gwen pouted, “but shall we find out if I can still get your legendary Alpha blood boiling? I’ll take one for the road.” She leaned forward, pressing designer red lips to his mouth.

Ben heard a tiny gasp and turned his head, breaking off the kiss. Rey stood in the doorway looking petrified. 

“You- you have a call,” she said, holding out his cell phone.

Ben took it from her shaking hand, but before he could say anything Rey fled, half running down the stairs.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“Oops,” Gwen said unrepentantly. “So what will it be, lover?”

It took all his strength not to bare his canines at the Beta woman and she correctly read the look on his face.

Ben left Gwen to see herself out, remaining in the master bedroom for a minute to calm down. He hung up on his caller without checking to see who it was, taking deep breaths to reign in his emotions. He needed to face Rey and it would be preferable to do so when his short fuse wasn’t lit.

Ten minutes later he walked into the kitchen expecting to take Rey aside for a conversation, but she wasn’t there.

“Where’s Rey?” he asked her four sisters and received blank looks in response.

He glanced out the window where the sun was starting to set and his heart sank along with it.


	14. She Is Messy But She's Kind

Rey sat carefully on grass, the ground beginning to cool now that the sun had disappeared. Her denim skirt was on the short side so the green lawn tickled her bare legs, her bright yellow tank top borrowed from Jannah’s closet. She’d dressed to please Ben, hoping for once she looked cute and sexy instead of awkward and plain, which was her normal go to. 

Ben. _Alpha._ She didn’t want to think about him. 

Despite her personal preference, her mind replayed the image of him kissing Gwen as if it had been caught on film. They looked good together, Ben so tall and broad and dark, and the decorator with her golden blonde hair in that sophisticated dress and gorgeous shoes. She’d been almost as tall as him, which must make sex easier. Rey always felt like she could climb Ben as if he were a solid oak tree.

Tears fell from her eyes into her lap and she screwed up her face to try and stop the flow. This wasn’t what she wanted. She hadn’t asked for a broken heart. 

She told herself she had no right to be upset. She’d known all along she was a mere stop gap while Ben was in Jakku, far away from his usual stable of hot models and strippers. Even Gwen thought so; she’d confirmed Ben had a type and Rey was not it.

She recalled the conversation she’d inadvertently overheard with a mixture of cold dismay and hot humiliation. Rey wasn’t pretty enough for Ben. She wasn’t exotic like Paige or stunning like Jannah. She was a mistake he was taking to bed for lack of anything better to do.

She’d known as soon as she walked into the house and seen the decorator, tall and lean and blonde, that she was a former lover of his. A man like her Alpha attracted women like Gwen all the time. Except in Jakku there were no such women- only Rey.

A cayote howled in the distance and Rey glanced in the direction of its call. The Jakku desert was filled with such creatures, all ready to gobble up a defenceless Omega. She should probably return home but didn’t feel like moving.

It wasn’t often Rey felt the need to escape. Omegas were natural homebodies, but this time it had to be done. She couldn’t return to the kitchen to be with her sisters and pretend her heart hadn’t just shattered into a million pieces. Rey wiped away fresh tears.

This was all her own fault. Like some kind of Coruscant socialite, she’d told Ben Solo he could use her body for the next three months, knowing the inevitable would happen. Of course, she’d fallen in love with Leia’s son. Not only was he a perfect Alpha, but she’d spent most of her life obsessing over him. This arrangement had been a dream come true until reality intruded, ruining the fragile web of her happiness.

She needed to shake off these heavy feelings before she went home and faced him. Alpha shouldn’t have to deal with a crying, weepy Omega who didn’t know her place. Her sisters would be disappointed to realise she’d been foolish enough to invest real emotion in a relationship of convenience. 

Her phone buzzed yet again and Rey picked it up with a scowl. She’d already texted both Paige and Rose to let them know she was fine and would be home soon. They didn’t need to know where she was or why she’d run away. The truth of the matter could remain buried for the rest of eternity as far as she was concerned.

“Omega.”

Rey sat up with an audible gasp, recognising the dark velvet tone instantly.

“Alpha?” she replied, though common sense told her to keep her mouth shut and stay still.

Ben appeared from the shadows looking bigger than ever from her seat on the ground. He paused to stare at her and Rey told herself to stand up, he’d clearly come to take her home, but her limbs felt frozen. To her surprise, he joined her on the ground, sitting cross legged with a kind of lanky elegance.

He said nothing and she allowed the night to envelope them for a moment. After a while, she spoke.

“How did you find me?”

“Paige,” he admitted. “That sister of yours is meaner than she looks.”

“What happened?” Rey asked in surprise.

“Well, while the other girls were calling and texting you non-stop, Paige led me away from the kitchen and demanded to know if I cared for you at all. That she’d only tell me where you’d gone if I promised to look after you.”

Fresh tears stung her eyes and Rey impatiently shook her head. “Paige shouldn’t have asked that of you,” she said stiffly.

“Why not?” Ben replied. “Don’t you deserve to be treated right, sweetheart?”

Pain coalesced in her throat like a shard of glass and Rey could barely swallow it down. “You don’t owe me anything,” she said, her voice as thin as string. “If anything, I owe you. You’re only in Jakku so that my sisters and I are able to stay together, and now you’re renovating the house at your own cost…”

“I told you I wanted to do that for you,” Ben interrupted, his tone sharp, and Rey shrank inside herself.

_Alpha is angry, Rey. Why did you upset Alpha?_

She heard him sigh in the dark. He reached out and laid his hand on hers, but as hard as it was to do, she pulled away. 

“Please don’t touch me,” she whispered.

His scent of woodsmoke and pine darkened until she felt surrounded by an open fire. She’d upset him yet again. She was a bad Omega, not knowing how to please her Alpha.

_He’s not my Alpha, and the sooner I realise that the better._

“Rey, what you saw… I didn’t ask for it. Gwen kissed me,” Ben said, bringing up the very thing she didn’t want to talk about.

“It’s fine,” she told him. “Like I said, you don’t owe me anything. Not even an explanation.”

“We’ve been sleeping in the same bed for days now, Omega. That deserves some recognition.”

Rey bit her lower lip. Did he really think so, or was Alpha only saying that to make her feel better?

“It’s not like you’re my boyfriend,” she whispered.

“Then why are you here, Rey? In a cemetery in the middle of the night.”

“The sun only set half an hour ago,” she hedged, and Ben laughed at her pitiful excuse. 

“We’re sitting on my mother’s grave,” he reminded her.

They both looked at the polished grey marble headstone with the name Leia Organa carved into it.

“After the funeral, I started coming here when things got too much at home,” Rey admitted. “I’d wonder if Leia was watching over us still and whether she would have made different choices to the ones I was making.”

“My mother wasn’t perfect, baby,” Ben murmured. “Who’s to say anything she did was right? All you can do is live your life the best way you know how.”

“I don’t want to have regrets,” Rey said, turning to look at him, “and I don’t regret being with you, Alpha.” He gave her a strange look and she flushed, grateful for the darkness. “I know ours is a relationship of convenience and I have no right to be upset. I was just trying to clear my head.”

“I’m glad you’re upset,” he admitted.

“What?” she said, her tone unexpectedly sharp.

He chuckled low. “I’d be upset if I saw you with someone else, sweetheart. Actually, I’d be more than upset. I might tear them to pieces.”

Rey took a startled, hiccupping breath.

“Omega, I wouldn’t have survived a single day in Jakku without you, so can I touch you now? Because it’s starting to drive me crazy that I haven’t kissed you yet.”

She giggled and he pounced, rolling on the manicured lawn with her, pinning her beneath him as he claimed her lips in a kiss that involved plenty of tongue and moisture. Rey was moaning sweetly by the time Ben let up.

“I want to be clear, Omega,” he mumbled, kissing his way down her neck and across narrow shoulders, his big body pressing her little one into the grass, “I was never going to sleep with Gwen.”

“Yes, Alpha,” she squeaked as he found her gland and licked it insistently, making her head spin and her cunt gush.

Ben slipped a hand under her tank top to fondle her breasts when he stopped himself, looking over his shoulder at the headstone. “Maybe not right here.”

Rey discovered Ben’s idea of ‘not right here’ was barely ten feet away. 

He propped her against a stranger’s headstone with knees spread wide, turning her denim skirt into a belt and pushing her soaking wet panties aside, sinking three fingers inside her slick cunt. He played with her as if she were his favourite toy, licking and nibbling at her quim, lapping up slick and toying with her clit. He scraped his sharp teeth over the stiff little bud and she cried out, not caring if anyone heard her.

The fact that Ben was going down on her out in the open, in the middle of the night and in a graveyard was so taboo that Rey couldn’t quite believe it was happening. But she was happy for it to happen, more than happy it seemed as she climaxed wetly all over his hungry mouth. Her honey coated his tongue and he made a sound, a deep, rumbling purr that she’d come to recognise. It was his signal of ultimate satisfaction and her Omega instincts wept with joy that Alpha was feasting on her with so much delight.

Ben took his time with her, exploring with lips and teeth and hands until the junction of her thighs was a solid, pleasurable ache. So much slick poured out of her and he slurped it all down, his fingers sawing in and out of her tight little channel. The exquisite bundle of nerves at the top of her slit hummed and crackled, and he knew just when to lap it tenderly, when to flick firmly or when to suckle her clit into the back of his throat.

She came over and over again, until she was a mess of slick and sweat and trembling limbs, her slight breasts so tight on her chest they felt like rocks, her nipples diamond hard jewels. Every time she tried to reach for the bulge in his pants he pushed her hands away, holding her in place with long fingers. And she realised this was his apology to her, his way of saying he was sorry she’d been hurt.

Rey understood she was in a whole heap of trouble when it came to this Alpha. There was no way she was going to survive his departure. She would have to hole up in the house with a mountain of chocolate and perhaps a bottle of wine, though alcohol didn’t agree with her Omega body, turning her into a blackout drunk. Which actually sounded like a plan.

By the time Ben was satisfied that he’d wrung every last gasp and mewl and cry from her lips, she felt so boneless he had to carry her to the car. Rey expected him to place her in the passenger seat like a normal male, but he settled her on his lap instead.

“Ben,” she mumbled, her head on his shoulders as he peeled out of the parking lot, “is this safe?”

He dropped a kiss on her nose. “It’s what’s happening, Omega.”

She smiled into his t-shirt. “Yes, Alpha.”

And with that one action, she understood something else. Alpha cared for her.

Rey felt the first tendrils of real joy wrap around her heart.


	15. She Is Lonely Most Of The Time

“I think Rose has a boyfriend.”

Ben was naked and spreadeagled on Rey’s bed, the narrow mattress unable to cope with his breadth and so one leg was pressed against the wall while the other hung over the edge. Rey knelt naked between his thighs having just treated him to a messy and enthusiastic blowjob, droplets of pearlescent male seed on her lips, cheeks and collar bone. He was still breathing hard and had considered asking his Omega to slide up his body so he could suck on juicy nipples when she’d spoken.

“Sweetheart, really?” he groaned, making her giggle. “Do you have to bring up your sister now? Talk about being a buzzkill.”

“Nothing defeats your libido,” she replied archly.

“Cheeky,” Ben responded with a lazy grin. “Why don’t you bring your smart mouth closer and let me deal with it appropriately.”

“I like my smart mouth exactly where it is,” Rey murmured, dipping her head and sucking the sensitive head of his recently spent cock back between her lips. 

She gave it all she had, hollowing her cheeks and wriggling her tongue over the tiny weeping slit. His hips jerked involuntarily and he grunted, his cock swelling inside her warm, wet mouth. Before long he was rock hard once more and Rey was suckling on him like a lollipop, one hand massaging the firm sac of his balls, the other resting on his thigh. 

Oral sex with Rey had become something of a habit, and Ben often came two or three times over the course of a single session, after which he turned her spine into overcooked spaghetti by hungrily devouring her silken cunt. Despite their growing intimacy, he hadn’t taken things any further with Rey. He told himself it was because she was a virgin and he needed to be careful with her delicate Omega body. Of course, there was another, more personal reason, a Pandora’s box of unknowables he refused to face.

Ben orgasmed like a geyser all over Rey’s little tits and pulled her into his embrace, cradling her significantly smaller Omega form within his arms, unaware he was taking as much comfort in her presence as she was in him. Outside the door, they could hear tradespeople finishing up for the day, but Ben was reluctant to leave this unorthodox sanctuary where he found his peace.

A significant amount of work had already taken place. Gwen’s people arrived in teams and one lot immediately began stripping and repainting the exterior of the house in a sleek shade of pewter grey. Another group got to work painting the ground floor in varying shades of grey; the front hall was a warm grey called toast, the kitchen a softer grey that went by the name sea salt, and the living room walls were painted a deep, dramatic French grey. The trim was a restful shade of Chantilly lace and all the doors were a glossy version of the same white. 

The floors were now wood panelled in vintage oak which had proven extremely popular with Ben’s coterie of barefoot Omegas, but the biggest changes had taken place in the kitchen and dining room. That space was turned into a symphony of white with fresh cabinetry and brand new countertops, the dining table Leia purchased sanded and varnished until it had a velvety finish and their rickety chairs replaced with sturdier upholstered versions in pale sandstone grey. Paige loved the big double sink and Rose was most excited about the sparkling dishwasher. In fact, Ben had all their appliances replaced with expensive chrome versions of the same.

That night, he’d received the closest thing to a lecture from Rey. She was upset that he’d spent significant amounts of money on what she called 'extras'. Unfortunately for her, Ben found her pouty lips and flushed cheeks adorable and proceeded to undercut her authority by laving his tongue all over her nude body until she moaned and gave in. 

The living room was a haven of relaxation, drawing an actual squeal of excitement from Jannah when she noticed the new sound system. A huge L-shaped grey couch created comfortable seating for their flat screen television, and despite his irritation with Gwen after what she’d put Rey and him through, Ben had to admit her decorating choices were perfect. 

Fluffy cushions in baby pink, silver grey and pastel green crowded the couch, the coffee table with its white marble top and baby pink legs complementing the colour scheme. A family photo of the five girls with Leia had been blown up and placed in a rose gold frame which now hung on the wall, making the space the right combination of modern and feminine.

For Ben’s own purposes, a white painted study desk was placed against the far window, providing him with natural light and a view while he worked. He replaced the old computer with a new desktop, earning him another lecture from Rey. She ended up her on her knees while he tested out his new office chair, his hard cock planted deep inside her throat as he climaxed. In fact, they had a lot of fun trying out all the new furniture while Rey’s sisters were out of the house.

The renovators had moved their equipment upstairs a couple of days ago and were working hard to complete the project. The flooring was finished, fresh paint applied and the bathroom fixtures updated. There was work still to be done in the master bedroom, but as soon as that was completed the house would be theirs once more. 

“So why do you think Rose has a boyfriend?” Ben asked sometime later, after they’d showered and dressed.

Rey was gazing ruefully at another pair of ruined panties but looked up at this question. “She keeps mentioning a Beta male from her work. I think his name is Finn.”

Ben grunted, unsure how he felt about that. Technically, he had no right feeling anything since Rose was her own Omega, but he realised he was starting to care for the sisters. His bond with Rey was undeniable- he’d stopped questioning their connection- but the idea that happy little Rose was opening herself up to the advances of a man caused him worry. 

“Should I talk to her about it?” Ben asked and Rey gave him a look. “What?” he demanded.

“Could you be more Alpha?” she replied, making him chuckle.

Rey had grown more comfortable in their relationship with every passing day. For some strange reason, the crises they faced after Gwen’s stupendously inappropriate attempt to seduce him had only brought them closer.

“I asked Rose about this Finn and she claims he’s just a colleague, so it’s not something she’s willing to admit to yet,” Rey continued as they walked downstairs.

To their surprise, the project manager for the renovations, Temmin ‘Snap’ Wexley, stood waiting nervously in the front hallway. 

“Hi, Snap, what’s up?” Ben asked with more cheer than he felt.

The fact that the other man hadn’t just packed up and gone home as was his daily ritual meant something was wrong. Ben couldn’t seem to muster the usual amount of aggression when dealing with those who worked for him. His standards were still exacting, but his well known temper hadn’t reared its ugly head in quite a few days.

Rey was making him soft, that’s what it was. Too many orgasms and not enough time in the board room.

“We hit a snag, boss,” the heavy set man said fretfully. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the cooling system hasn’t come back on after the rewiring we did in the master bedroom.”

“It wasn’t really working before,” Ben heard himself say, giving Snap a way to absolve himself of responsibility.

The project manager nodded furiously. “Yeah, well, it may have been all the work we’ve been putting in with new lights and stuff, but it seems the ducted cooling system has packed it in. We tried to get it restarted- one of our guys was in the rafters for over an hour- but the central machine is covered with rust and leaking chemicals.” Snap swallowed audibly when Ben scowled. “I’m sorry, boss. You’re gonna need a specialist in the field and probably a whole new cooling system.”

Ben opened his mouth and Rey slipped her hand into his, hazel eyes clear as she gazed up at his face. He felt his stomach knot at her expression of complete trust. Alpha would take of this, she was sure of it.

“Um, thanks, Snap,” Ben muttered, nearly rolling his eyes at the other man’s relief there hadn’t been more serious repercussions.

Snap gave Rey an awkward half bow before heading out to his car. 

Rey giggled as soon as they were alone. “I’ve never had anyone bow to me before.” 

“Snap probably knows he has you to thank for getting off so easy,” Ben growled, leaning down and stealing a rough kiss as was his due.

She kissed him back eagerly, one hand sliding under his blue polo to rub ridged abs. 

“Ew, guys,” Rose declared, walking through the door right that moment.

“Ew,” Kaydel echoed, though her face was more curious than amused.

To Ben’s disappointment, Rey retracted her hand and headed to the kitchen with her sisters for an after school snack. Kaydel lingered in the hallway to make sure he followed, and Ben bit back a sigh at her behaviour. The little blonde was far from demanding but it did make him wonder what effects his leaving the household would have. Kaydel’s decision to adopt him as a father figure was one thing, but how would Rey cope when it came time for him to return to Coruscant?

And he sure as hell intended on going back. Even with all the improvements he’d made to the house, there was no way he would choose to stay in Jakku. Not only were all his friends and family in Coruscant, Skywalker Solutions needed him at the helm.

He found himself watching Rey as she tended to Rose and Kaydel, asking them about school and friends, making sure they were happy and well. Her first instinct was always to care for others and Ben hadn’t met anyone quite like her back home.

Jannah and Paige returned from work before he brought up the subject of a new cooling system.

“I’ll take care of it,” he was saying to the sisters over dinner, “but I wanted you all to know there’s an issue.”

“We can cover the air conditioning unit,” Rey said, surprising him.

Ben frowned at her but she didn’t quail. “The renovations I started created the problem. I should take care of it.”

“Rey’s right,” Paige interjected, her voice soft but determined. “You’re paying so much into the household account I’ve been able to save my last few paycheques. And we all know it wasn’t the remodelling that broke the cooling system. The airflow’s been problematic for years.”

Ben glanced from Paige to Rey and back again. The last time Paige had looked that way was the evening she’d made him promise to look after Rey. 

“This is our house, Ben,” Rey said quietly, and unexpectedly her words stung.

Their house, as in _not_ his. He wasn’t sure why he should feel upset when he’d just been considering his escape back to Coruscant. 

“Fine,” he said, backing down somewhat, “but let me help you with a quote. I have a friend who works in the industry and he’ll be able to get you a discount.” 

“Naturally,” Jannah grinned, shovelling a spoonful of rice and chilli into her mouth. “Don’t worry, you’re still Daddy Warbucks to me.”

Ben shook his head at the sharp tongued girl. “No one in their right mind would mistake you for little orphan Annie.”

There was general hilarity at his comment and Ben left the sisters mercilessly teasing Jannah to make a call. The number he dialled rang only once before it was picked up.

“Dude, I’ve been waiting for your cry for help! Do you need me to fly a chopper down to Jakku and airlift you out of that pit?”

Despite the sarcasm, Ben found himself smiling. “It’s been a while, Dameron.”

“Yes, it has, Solo,” his best friend since elementary school replied. “Shall I alert the authorities about your rescue?”

Ben burst out laughing and there was stunned silence on the other end of the line. He realised he wasn’t usually this jovial with Poe.

“I do need your help,” Ben admitted, “just not the way you think.”


	16. She Is All Of This

Poe Dameron was trouble- it was written all over him. Rey struggled not to use Ben as a human shield while she showed the other Alpha around her home, uncomfortable with a second dominant male in her vicinity. 

It seemed Poe was an electrical engineer whose father owned a company that dealt with ducted heating and cooling systems, amongst other things. They mostly provided products for bigger projects like factories and office buildings, but at Ben’s request Poe had agreed to do them a favour. Rey was grateful he’d made the trip to Jakku, though she suspected, like Gwen, Poe was more interested in checking up on Ben. 

Despite both being Alpha, the two best friends were different in many ways. Physically, Poe was a good six inches shorter than Ben, still hard muscled and broad shouldered but stockier in build. He had chestnut brown curls that he wore cropped close to his head and dark eyes that smouldered, and while Ben was as pale as moonlight, Poe had a Mediterranean complexion. 

Their personalities were also starkly dissimilar. Poe greeted Rey by kissing her on both cheeks and grabbed Ben in a bear hug that the other Alpha accepted with ill grace. He was full of jokes and laughter, though she quickly realised his good humour camouflaged a sharp mind. 

Poe remained aware of everything. Rey saw his eyes narrow the first time Ben laid a hand on her hip as she walked past, or every other time Ben rested his palm on the small of her back when she stood beside him. Rey herself realised Ben was touching her more and more outside of the bedroom, their physical intimacy growing every day, but to see someone from Ben’s life notice the differences in this Alpha was nerve wracking.

“It’s amazing the old cooling system didn’t spontaneously combust on you guys,” Poe was saying, having emerged from the rafters with cobwebs on his jacket.

He took off the brown suede garment and shook it out, leaving him in a grey silk shirt, dark slacks and boots, his hair rakishly tousled.

“Will a replacement be expensive?” Rey asked. 

She smothered a grin as next to her Ben twitched. It was driving him crazy that she’d taken ownership of this one expense.

Poe gave her a lazy smile. “I’m sure I can do you a deal.”

Ben glared at his friend and the other man met his intense amber gaze with amused brown eyes. 

Poe was deliberately flirting with Rey in an attempt to rile up Ben, and she grew nervous as their surroundings filled with Ben’s woodsy and increasingly smoky scent. Rey told herself she was overreacting. She wasn’t used to competing Alpha pheromones in her house, and even though it seemed Poe was challenging her Alpha’s dominance, the two men had known each other for years so their posturing was probably common behaviour.

Sure enough, as soon as they were seated at the dining table, Ben and Poe began swapping stories and laughing over shared memories. Rey left them to it as she made coffee from a shiny chrome machine with more buttons than a rocket ship. Ben had installed the Italian manufactured item despite her protests, claiming it was for his own sanity which she could well believe. A bag of fresh ground coffee beans was delivered later in the week and Rey learnt how to operate the coffee maker accordingly. Jannah was the biggest fan of the sleek machine- the girl lived on fresh air and caffeine. 

Waiting for the milk to heat, Rey looked around her clean white kitchen and heaved a contented sigh. She still couldn’t believe the transformation Ben’s money had wrought in Leia’s rickety old house. Gone were stains and scuff marks, creaking appliances and rusted finishes; everything was now glossy and new. Her home was truly beautiful.

_What will it matter once Alpha leaves?_

Rey shook her head to clear it. She had to stop thinking about Ben’s departure and enjoy him while he was still around. The main reason she’d insisted on paying for the cooling system was to re-establish some form of control. She was grateful Paige had backed her up as well. She needed to state her independence somehow, as futile as it seemed. 

Rey carried a tray with three steaming mugs of coffee to the table. Her cup contained more milk than anything else since, just like alcohol, caffeine did strange things to her Omega system. 

“Are you really through with Bazine?” Poe asked as he took the mug from her hands, his question for Ben but his eyes on Rey’s delicate face.

She flushed, wondering what he was up to now. Was this some kind of test to see how she’d react at the mention of Ben’s last girlfriend?

Ben hadn’t noticed, too busy taking a big gulp from his mug. “Rey showed up at the club asking for my help and Baz flipped out, so yeah, we’re probably done.”

Rey heard the ‘probably’ and tried not to cringe at the idea of Ben returning to blonde and sexy Bazine as soon as he was back in Coruscant, as if she and Jakku were a cage he was escaping. She wrapped cold fingers around her mug, seeking warmth.

“Ah, Rey,” Poe said, his tone malicious, “you’ve certainly done well for yourself.”

There was a pause and Rey reluctantly lifted her eyes. “What do you mean?” she asked, not wanting to presume.

Poe flashed her a cold smile. “Well, you somehow managed to get my boy here to move to Jakku. Not only that, he’s spending all this money on a house that’s not even his. Seems like you got a pretty sweet deal out of this arrangement.”

Rey stared at Poe, her brain desperately trying to make sense of his words. Was Poe accusing her of using Ben for his money? She glanced anxiously at Ben. He was frowning but didn’t speak up, not as he might had the words come from Gwen. She realised both men were watching her, waiting for her to say something. 

“Alpha has been very generous…” she began when Poe burst out laughing, interrupting her.

“Wow, you’re good,” he said, shaking his head. “Does she really call you Alpha?” he asked Ben. “I never thought you of all people would fall for the innocent little Omega act.”

“Poe, come on,” Ben said, grimacing.

“No, you come on,” Poe replied, his expression angry. “Remember all those conversations we used to have about how you never wanted to get involved with an Omega female? What the hell happened, man? Here you are, wrapped around some little girl’s finger doing everything you said you wouldn’t. I mean, is her pussy made of solid gold or what?”

Rey felt her breath strangle in her throat. She wanted to flee the room but told herself not to be a coward. 

This was her house and she should at least face her accuser.

“Poe, enough,” Ben growled. “I called you here as a friend and instead you’re acting like a jackass.”

“You have to see it through my eyes,” Poe said, modulating his tone though his jaw remained hard. “I don’t want you taken advantage of just because your Alpha glands are finally in operation.”

Ben opened his mouth to reply but Rey spoke first, her voice trembling with the effort. It was not for an Omega to argue with an Alpha, any Alpha, and it was hard to stand up for herself. Her instincts twisted and shrieked as she forced herself to explain. 

“My sisters and I never asked for any of this,” she gasped. “We never asked for our foster mother to die while we were still underage, and we never asked for the law to demand we find ourselves an Alpha guardian. We certainly didn’t ask Ben to renovate the house.” She turned wounded eyes to Ben. “This is why I wanted to pay for the cooling system, because you’re being so generous it’s beyond ridiculous and everyone must think we bribed you with our b-bodies or manipulated you with our designation…”

Ben looked at Rey, sitting beside him with her spine snapped straight, and pulled her onto his lap. He kissed her deeply, tightening his embrace as she began to shake. She buried her face in his shoulders, both angry and embarrassed. She didn’t want to cry in front of this stranger.

“Hey, look, I’m sorry,” Poe’s voice intruded, sounding abashed.

Rey looked up, impatiently wiping her eyes dry.

Poe reached out to touch her face and Ben bared his teeth, causing the other man to withdraw. He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Alright, already. I’m being a jerk. I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way.”

Rey unclenched her hands from the front of Ben’s t-shirt and nodded. “Okay,” she whispered.

“Please don’t cry,” Poe groaned. “How can I make it up to you?”

She shook her head. “You’re Alph- Ben’s best friend. You don’t have to do anything.”

“What about a free cooling system?” Poe asked, entirely serious.

“No,” Rey replied, still in Ben’s arms but finding her resolve. “No way. I said we would pay for it and we will.”

“I guess the bill will just have to read a dollar,” Ben said, rubbing her back in slow circles, his tone teasing.

“I can do that,” Poe replied, exchanging grins with his friend.

“Ugh, arrogant Alphas,” Rey sniped, and both men laughed. 

She couldn’t escape Ben’s arms after that. Poe brought the conversation back to the things that were happening in Coruscant, mentioning a mutual friend of theirs by the name of Hux who’d just ended a protracted affair with a married woman, and the two men became lost in conversation. 

Rey attempted to stand so she could clear the table but Ben’s hold around her waist only tightened, and the more she wriggled, the harder he grew under the soft cheeks of her buttocks. Once she realised she was turning him on, she tried to stay still but he slipped his hand under her blouse to lightly scratch her back, making her squirm all over again.

Fortunately for Poe, her sisters started arriving home before things became truly awkward. The girls were wary of the new Alpha, and in Jannah’s case outright hostile, but Poe still managed to wrangle out of them an invitation to dinner.

Paige was the last one to return home, walking into the kitchen with her work bag still hanging off her shoulder, her pretty face tired. Poe had been speaking to Rose about her mechanical skills and the possibility of further studies in engineering when he caught sight of her older sister. Rey watched from the safety of Ben’s arms as their eyes met. A kind of awed wonder softened Poe’s features while a rosy blush coloured Paige’s cheeks.

Poe’s Alpha scent was interesting, a spicy dark liquorice, and it suddenly dominated the dining room, making Ben’s nostrils flare in irritation. Rey soothed her Alpha by tilting her neck and exposing her own softly swollen glands to him. He took a surreptitious swipe of her flesh and she dug her fingers into his arms, making him chuckle.

There was only so much an Omega could take before she begged her Alpha to strip her naked and consume her whole.

Poe ate dinner with his eyes on Paige the whole time, their attraction so palpable it was amusing. At the end of the night when it came time for him to return to Coruscant, Poe slipped Paige his card. Her sister held onto it with white knuckled hands, dark eyes sparkling.

Rey bit back a sigh. She wished nothing more for Paige than everything she felt for Ben, but these Alphas were not theirs to have. What they were doing bordered on reckless.

“I’m sorry about Poe’s behaviour earlier,” Ben said once they were alone in her room. “He doesn’t know you like I do.” 

Rey smiled as he impatiently pulled off her top, his hands unzipping her skirt. “It’s fine. I’m glad Poe is such a good friend. It makes me feel better knowing you have someone looking out for you in Coruscant.”

Ben paused mid-kisses. “What are you saying, Omega? Are you worried about what will happen to me when I leave Jakku?”

She flushed. “I- no, not worried exactly- I just…”

“You are!” Ben crowed, his expression incredulous. “Sweetheart, I’m not the one you should be worried about.”

“Yes, but…” Rey bit her lip.

“What?” he demanded curiously.

She turned as pink as a rosebud. “I won’t be there to look after you.”

He gazed at her with a curious expression in amber eyes. When he spoke again, his voice was an octave lower. “You’re incredible, Omega.”

Rey squealed as Ben picked her up and spread her out on the bed completely nude, feeding her his unyielding cock while he reached over and played with her pussy using both hands, making her climax exquisitely as his seed gushed down her hungry throat. 

Afterwards, lying in her Alpha’s arms, Rey thought of all the ways life had changed since Ben Solo walked through their front door. Exposure to Ben and now Poe was altering her family. 

She huffed into Ben’s shoulder, willing herself to fall asleep. Even though she wouldn’t do anything different, there were still repercussions to be faced.


	17. Mixed Up

Ben never thought he’d see the day when Poe Dameron developed feelings for a girl. Of course, Poe was accusing him of the exact same thing.

He delivered a lecture that nearly made Poe’s ears bleed, wanting his friend to understand that Rey and her sisters were remarkably sheltered Omegas, sweet and unspoiled, generous and family oriented. It didn’t mean they weren’t smart and perceptive, but he was determined to protect them from influences he’d inadvertently allowed into their lives, Poe being one of them.

Poe was a good friend but his track record when it came to women was significantly worse off than Ben’s. Ben might find himself a Beta lover for the duration of several weeks or even months, but Poe was known to sleep with multiple women in a single night. He was a hound dog of the first order, and Ben wasn’t sure even Paige’s gorgeous Omega presence could make a difference.

He was therefore pleasantly surprised by Poe’s behaviour over the course of the following week. Poe drove down to Jakku several times, staying long into the night, talking to all the girls in turn, ingratiating himself with the sisters and stealing time with Paige as much as possible. Ben knew Rey had warned Paige about Poe’s playboy ways at his insistence, but hell, he couldn’t judge the new couple when he and Rey were taking every opportunity to be naked together. He himself hadn’t made any commitments to his Omega. In fact, he’d done the exact opposite, reaffirming he’d be gone from her life in a matter of months.

Amidst the excitement of Poe’s visits and Paige’s blossoming relationship with his best friend, the days kept slipping by. Renovations were now complete and Ben took great pleasure in revealing the master bedroom to Rey in all its glory. 

The room was a symphony in blue with all new furniture; the walls painted stormy grey, a soothing shade with a hint of blue in it, the windows hung with heavy silver blue drapes and pale blue sheers. The floors were a dark, rich wood, different to the rest of the house, and a brand new king bed sat on a textured white rug. The bed itself had an upholstered blue velvet headboard with white silk sheets and a midnight blue throw. The side tables were ornate silver and one corner of the room held a deep couch in the same upholstered blue, creating a reading nook surrounded by built-in white bookshelves.

“This is amazing, Alpha,” she trilled, twirling to take it all in.

“I’m glad you think so,” Ben grinned. “It’s yours.”

“W-what?” Rey squeaked.

“Yours,” he repeated. “I noticed your preference for the colour blue and I decorated the master bedroom with you in mind. Of course, we’ll share the bed for now.”

He heard her breath catch in her throat. “I can’t just take the room. What if Paige wants it…?”

But Ben was shaking his head. “I’ve already spoken to your sisters and they all agree it should be yours. Rose can’t wait to have her own space and move into your old room.”

Rey gazed at him for several seconds before bursting into tears. 

He pulled her into his arms in consternation, letting her sob against his chest. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she wept. “I can’t believe this is all m-mine. It’s the n-nicest thing anyone has done for m-me.”

He started laughing and she unsuccessfully tried to kick him in the shins. 

“What’s so funny?” she demanded.

“You,” he chuckled. “You’re so adorable. Don’t you realise how much everyone loves you, Rey?”

She lifted big eyes to his face and he bit back an oath at his own carelessness. What was he saying? He hoped she didn’t read too much into his words, though that was one thing he never had to worry about when it came to this Omega. If anything, Rey thought too little of herself. It wouldn’t enter her mind to assume Ben could fall in love with her.

Could he fall for her? Perhaps he already had.

Ben grimaced, scratching his neck to relieve itching glands. They’d been bothering him ever since the cooling system broke down. He was glad Poe was installing the new unit tomorrow; he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a while, not even after exhausting himself with Rey.

Rey spent the rest of the morning moving her stuff into the beautiful master bedroom while Ben sprawled on the bed working on his laptop. She fluttered around, organising her clothes in the wardrobe and filling shelves with books. Finally, she began unpacking his suitcase.

“That’s really not necessary,” Ben said irritably.

She hesitated, her arms full of shirts. “Won’t it be better if I fold your clothes and put them away, Alpha? You’ll be able to find your things more easily.”

“I don’t see the point, Omega,” he said, typing so aggressively he jammed a key. “I’ll be gone in a few weeks anyway. I might as well live out of my suitcase.”

Ben slammed his computer shut, deciding to head downstairs to finish up his correspondence when he caught the look on Rey’s face. There was a depth of pain in her eyes of which he’d never seen.

“Rey…”

She dropped his clothes back into the open suitcase, plastering a smile on her face. “I’m going to clean my old room so it’s ready for Rose,” she said, quickly walking away.

Ben hesitated. His Alpha instincts wanted to go after her, to comfort his Omega, but was that the right thing to do? It was as if Poe’s developing relationship with Paige had thrown a light on his own connection to Rey. What the hell were they doing messing with these girls, making them dependant on Alpha providers who’d only turn around and leave?

Had he been a truly good man he would have never given in to his sexual urges. Sleeping with Rey blurred the lines and caused confusion. Because how could she not think of him as _her_ Alpha when they were always wrapped around each other, sharing confidences and sitting down for meals as a family? 

Ben walked past Rey’s old room on his way downstairs and told himself not to peek inside; he didn’t want to see her in tears. He heard the vacuum cleaner whirring so she was being as good as her word, preparing the space for Rose. What was wrong with him? He’d gone from making her cry with joy to making her weep in pain. 

Ben tried to focus on work but his employees back in Coruscant were getting the old version of him today, the Alpha who was quick tempered and impatient, demanding perfection and requiring results immediately. He was out of sorts and he blamed the heat and this house and the Omegas within it.

Damn Jakku for its scorching sun and damn Rey for asking him to be there. This was all her fault. If she held any expectations he would turn into prince charming, she was sorely mistaken. He wasn’t the guy who rode in on a white horse to save the day- he was the one who killed the dragon and skinned it for his own profit. He had no time for princesses and motherless little girls, no predilection for tender Omegas and their delicate sensibilities. 

He found himself longing for the simplicity of a woman like Bazine Netal- someone he could screw and put away until the next time he needed to sate his lust. Bazine might never look at him with sweet longing and selfless love, but neither could she be hurt by his actions. The expression on Rey’s face haunted him still. He might as well have plunged a knife into her heart.

Ben impatiently shut down the computer, running his palm along his sore glands. He hadn’t been looking forward to the day when he would say goodbye to Rey, but now he wondered if it would be sweet relief to do so. It was what his friends had been saying to him all along- he’d never wanted to be obligated to an Omega’s pheromonal urges. No, he wanted to be free.

And yet Ben found himself climbing the stairs, searching for Rey. She was dusting her old shelves, her eyes red rimmed but dry. He said nothing, holding out a hand to her, and she came readily, her face as open as a flower. 

He led her to the master bedroom and locked the door, his instructions automatic. “Take off your clothes, Omega.”

“Y-yes, Alpha,” she squeaked, shedding garments quickly, revealing her slender form.

He caressed the firm little hills of her breasts, tugging on juicy red nipples. “You are not what I thought I wanted,” he said, sounding strangely regretful to his own ears.

Her eyes filled with tears as she processed his words. “Shall I leave?”

He smirked. “Oh, no, Omega. You’re mine to play with for as long as I’m in Jakku. I want you on your back.”

Rey hurried to obey, scrambling onto the bed and lying down as he’d instructed. He used her scarves to wrap around her wrists, binding her hands behind her back. He caught her left ankle and tied one leg to her hands. The other one he stretched out from her body and tethered to a carved bedpost.

“Alpha?” Her voice was nervous. Excited. She was completely restrained, utterly open to him.

He slid her toward him until her head was hanging off the mattress and leant over her, his broad, hard chest sliding over her taut breasts, his thick cock filling her willing mouth as he reached with both hands to hold her little cunt open for exploration with his tongue.

Her cry was muffled around his erection. He hadn’t given her much time to catch a breath before he’d stuffed her mouth. He was broad and her lips had to stretch to accommodate him. Still, he pushed deep, feeling the amazing suction of her mouth and the lash of her tongue. He held himself there, allowing her to draw hard, feeling the heat of her wrap around him. He pulled out, not all the way, and then pushed deep again. When he thrust into her throat, he stabbed her snug cunt deep with his tongue, his finger flicking her swelling clit.

She cried out around his male organ, her hips bucking, but she couldn’t go anywhere, tied up as she was with the weight of his body holding her down. He lifted his head from the junction of her thighs as he eased back to give her a chance to breathe. While he waited for her to draw in air, her pinched her stiff clit gently. The breath exploded out of her, slick gushing like honey from a broken jar.

“Alpha!” she called out.

“You’re so sensitive, Omega,” he murmured, kissing her clit. “Do you like what I do to you?” He pushed his throbbing cock back into her panting mouth before she could answer him. “Suck hard, little one.” He bent his dark head and proceeded to do the same.

He began to move his hips, a slow indulgence, pushing deeper inside her throat, drawing back and pushing even deeper again. She caught his rhythm and eagerly worked with him, until the pleasure was so intense he thought he might explode. He devoured her hot little cunt, drawing out sweet juices, playing with her trembling bud, seeking to enhance her pleasure in the most skilled way possible. Knowing he wouldn’t last if he kept it up, he reluctantly withdrew from her mouth.

“Wait,” Rey gasped. “Don’t you want to finish, Alpha?”

“Don’t you know who’s in charge, bad girl?” he growled. Ben pulled her to the centre of the bed once more, untying the leg that had been tethered to the post, flipping her onto her stomach. “I like being able to put you in any position I choose,” he murmured, shoving pillows under her hips to raise her pert bottom. He smacked her, three hard spanks on both cheeks, and she squirmed.

Rey gasped as his mouth was back between her legs. Her soft little body jerked as Ben took his time, claiming every inch of exposed skin. He used his fingers, his tongue, his teeth, his lips. He kissed, sucked, licked and probed, drawing sweet cries out of her, wringing three separate orgasms from her weeping cunt.

“Will you be good for me, Omega?” he crooned, and she climaxed once more as if in response, back arching, her body lifting off the bed.

He growled, grabbing his cock just as his seed exploded painfully from the tip, spraying her breasts and belly in a creamy shower. Ben collapsed beside Rey, kissing her ferociously as he came down from the high of his orgasm.

“Are you okay, little one?” he asked at last, untying her hands and releasing her leg.

He rubbed the reddened flesh of her wrists but she only whimpered, her face hidden by a tangle of bedclothes.

“Answer me or I’ll spank you again,” he threatened.

“Alpha,” she murmured, turning and hugging him, burying her face in his neck, arms flung wide to wrap around broad shoulders. He felt the press of soft breasts against the heavy muscles of his chest, her legs tangling with his.

Ben experienced emotions so encompassing it actually hurt. His heart felt as if it might shatter, and with that unlooked for intensity came fear. Who was he without this Omega?

He might be Alpha, but he suspected he was rapidly losing control of the situation.


	18. Baked In A Beautiful Pie

“What swimming pool?” 

Rey quailed as Ben asked the question with all the Alpha impatience one man could possess. She turned to her sisters who determinedly looked away.

Ben had been terribly out of sorts the last few days and the other girls were avoiding him, leaving their Alpha guardian to Rey’s tender mercies. She wished they wouldn’t. Sure, he was more her responsibility than anyone else’s, but it meant instead of being irritable with all five of them, it was Rey who bore the brunt of his short temper.

Everything she did seemed to annoy him and she’d retired to the bathroom to cry more than once, feeling like a failed Omega. She’d expected him to withdraw from her physically as well, but their sexual gymnastics continued unabated. If anything, it had intensified. 

“It’s more of a tank in the backyard, really,” Rey said, already wishing she hadn’t brought up the subject. “Since Poe is installing the cooling system today, I thought it might be nice to take a dip afterwards.”

“I’ll have to help Poe first,” Ben snapped, as if that was her fault.

“Of course,” she squeaked. “You could both join us when you’re done.”

It was Saturday and everyone was home. Rey was pretty sure that was the reason why Poe had picked today to install the new unit. After all, Paige would readily be available for his attention. Someone might as well make their Alpha happy, even if it wasn’t her.

The front doorbell rang and Rey breathed a sigh of relief as Ben went to greet Poe. She was exhausted, having no idea how to deal with her Alpha. He’d woken up that morning a grumbling, cranky bear of a male, as if they hadn’t just spent most of the night in the throes of pleasure. Rey swore some of her orgasms had made her black out, but it seemed Ben remained unsatisfied. 

There was a secondary reason why she had suggested cooling down in the makeshift swimming pool in their backyard, an opportunity to please Ben that would have otherwise never presented itself.

“What the dickins are you wearing?” Jannah demanded as soon as she saw Rey.

Paige and Kaydel were in the kitchen making sandwiches and lemonade while Jannah and Rose filled the tank using the garden hose. Ben and Poe were already in the rafters of the house working on the installation, turning the surrounding air blue with an inordinate amount of swearing.

“It’s a swimsuit,” Rey snapped at her sister, already self-conscious.

“You haven’t worn that bikini in years,” Rose informed her unhelpfully.

Rey glared at the two girls. “Shut up.”

Jannah and Rose exchanged glances.

“Is this because of Ben?” Rose asked. “Are you trying to look cute so he doesn’t bite your head off?”

Rey placed a stack of beach towels on a wicker chair and gazed down at herself with a sigh. The bikini was bright yellow and unexpectedly sexy, mostly because she’d bought it when she was younger and now the triangles of stretchy fabric barely covered the swell of her breasts and buttocks. 

“I should change, shouldn’t I?” she said unhappily. 

Jannah and Rose were both in tank tops and shorts which was their standard mode of dress on a swim day. Jakku had no significant bodies of water and therefore no beaches, so Leia hadn’t seen the need to waste money on proper swimsuits.

“You’re definitely staying in that bikini,” Jannah said with a mischievous grin. “I’ve always wanted to see an Alpha blow a gasket.”

Rey frowned, suddenly unsure of the wisdom of her choice, but Paige and Kaydel appeared just then to distract her. They laid a tablecloth on the dusty outdoor setting and organised the food and drink before clambering into the tank. It had filled up with enough water so they could sit and soak, finding relief from the heat. Using the hulking metal container as a pool was one of Leia’s better ideas. There wasn’t enough space to swim, but Rose and Kaydel still insisted on splashing everyone in their vicinity.

Rey and Paige eventually hoisted themselves out of the tank to grab a drink just as Poe made an appearance. He looked a little worse for wear, face sweaty and hair scruffy, his t-shirt grey with dust. Rey glanced at Paige with a meaningful smile and saw her sister was already blushing. She was particularly pretty today, her shining dark locks in a wet braid down her back, her white halter and pink shorts clinging to her slim figure. 

To everyone’s surprise, Poe blew past Paige and planted himself in front of Rey. “What’s wrong with our boy?” he demanded. 

“Excuse me?” Rey gasped.

“Did you two break up or something?” Poe asked sharply. “He’s the angriest I’ve seen in a long while. The last time he was this bad Han was involved in that plane crash and Ben had to take over running the company.”

“Ben and I are still together,” Rey replied, bewildered. She lowered her voice as she continued, “We’re doing more stuff in the bedroom than ever before.”

“More?” Poe snapped. “Then why is Ben losing his mind?” But even as she shrugged, realisation dawned on the other Alpha’s chiselled face. “Oh, damn.” 

“Get the hell away from her, Dameron!” Ben shouted, bearing down on Rey and Poe like a charging bull.

“Calm down!” Poe yelled back, though he took several steps away from Rey.

“What are you doing, talking to my Omega?” Ben asked, his tone a low growl.

“Nothing,” Poe snapped, equally as heated. “It’s a free country.”

“And you,” Ben said, turning on Rey as she stood dripping wet in her skimpy bikini, “what the hell are you wearing? I’ve seen handkerchiefs with more fabric.”

From the tank, Jannah gave a snorting laugh and Ben’s scowl transferred to her. She disappeared underwater with an undignified _“eek”_.

“I wore this for you, Alpha,” Rey said, trying not to sound hurt but failing utterly. “I can change if you like.”

Ben didn’t answer since he was too busy shoving Poe away from himself. “What are you doing, you idiot?”

“Checking your glands,” Poe said, his tone conversational. “They’re red and swollen, my friend.”

“So?”

Poe rolled his eyes. “Let me lay it out for you.” He started ticking off things with his fingers. “You’re cranky.”

“So cranky,” Rey muttered, flinching as Ben scowled at her.

“Your body heat is off the charts, you’re sweating like a pig, you’re being territorial with Rey and your sexual activity has increased.”

“Poe!” Paige said reprimandingly, glancing at Kaydel who was listening with a fascinated expression.

“I think you’re entering your heat.”

Ben looked at his friend, momentarily stunned. “That can’t be right,” he said hoarsely. “I have at least two months before I’m due for the next one.”

“Yeah, but you’ve spent the last few weeks marinading in a stew of Omega juice.”

“Poe!” 

This time the exclamation came from both Paige and Rey.

Ben stared at Poe in increasing horror. He glanced furtively at Rey and her sisters, took note of their big eyes and grimaced. “Let’s take this inside,” he told the other man.

The two males disappeared into the house, leaving Rey to gape at their retreating shadows.

“Go after them,” Jannah hissed, bobbing up in the tank.

“But…” Rey hesitated, “Ben didn’t ask for me.”

“Do you think your Alpha needs you?” Paige asked quietly.

Rey shared a look with the other girl and made up her mind. She could hear voices on the first floor and took the stairs two at a time. The men were in the master bedroom and Poe was doing the talking.

“It’s too late for suppressants, dude. The way I see it, you either ride the wave with Omega Rey or I tie you down until you’re back in control, keeping in mind a rut can last anywhere between a week to ten days.”

Rey couldn’t understand why Poe was speaking that way. She walked into the bedroom to ask, “Why would you restrain Alpha? I’m here.”

Poe stood by the window while Ben sat on the side of the bed, back bent and face in his hands. At her statement, his head snapped up and Rey nearly turned and ran. The look in Ben’s amber eyes was savage.

“Get out of here, Rey,” he said, his voice a low growl.

She dug deep for a measure of courage. “Why?” 

He ignored her, turning to Poe. “I could call Bazine. She’d travel to Jakku if I paid her enough.”

Ben’s statement hit Rey like a blow to the stomach. Her Omega instincts were wailing at his outright rejection, her mind spinning in confusion. “No,” she said, the word involuntarily escaping her lips.

Ben and Poe looked at her, their Alpha faces confused. “What did you say?” Ben asked.

Defying a millennium of genetic conditioning, Rey repeated, “No!”

Poe’s jaw dropped open as Rey stood in front of Ben, vulnerable in her tiny yellow bikini and dripping wet hair, but so angry she had to speak her mind. 

“How dare you?” she asked, fighting back the prickling of hot tears. “How dare you throw me aside as if I’m nothing? What am I to you- a mewling Omega with no rights or feelings? You don’t get to use me when you want and then pretend I don’t exist, Ben Solo!”

Ben stood up and Rey took a step back. She’d never been afraid of this Alpha before but now her world was turned upside down. 

“That look on your face is why I won’t see out my rut with you, Rey,” he growled. “Leave, Poe,” he said, almost as an aside. 

The other man dropped Rey a wink as he closed the bedroom door behind him.

“Am I not good enough?” she continued, her breath coming in gasps now that they were alone. “Have you only been with me because there was no one else? Don’t I please you, Alpha?”

Ben groaned deep in his belly, moving so quickly she was unable to avoid his embrace. He picked her up so her feet were dangling in the air. “You’re amazing, Omega,” he said, burying his face in her breasts. “I’m doing this for you.”

“You want to screw Bazine for me?” Rey responded sarcastically. “That makes no sense. Especially since she won’t be able to take your knot like I can…”

Ben’s grip tightened and Rey felt the air leave her lungs. “Don’t talk about knotting your sweet little cunt, Omega. I might lose control.”

“Then lose control,” she said, her natural generosity reasserting itself, stroking his hair tenderly. “Please, Ben, all I’ve ever wanted is to be with you.”

He shuddered and lifted his head to look her in the face. His pupils were blown wide open, nostrils flaring and mouth swollen. “I’ve never had an unmedicated heat,” he confessed almost ashamedly. 

Rey blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve always taken a bagful of pills and isolated during my ruts. My Beta lovers couldn’t manage an Alpha in heat and I never looked for an Omega to help me through this time.”

“Why?” she asked, her voice a whisper.

“I’m too much to handle, little one. I’m too big and aggressive and demanding. I’m afraid I’ll hurt you if I use you to sate my needs.”

Rey felt tears spill from her eyes, only they were for him and not her. “Ben,” she murmured, kissing his face as if he was the most precious thing in the whole world, “be the perfect Alpha I know you are and please fuck me.”


	19. She Is Gone

Ben couldn’t believe what was happening. Like a fool he’d ignored every sign he was entering into his rut and now it was too late. 

He’d brought up Bazine not because he wanted her, but so that Rey would be upset enough to run away from him. His little Omega with her delicate face and rosebud lips and slender body couldn’t possibly withstand the bottled up lust of an Alpha that was three decades in the making. 

And yet when she spoke the words of invitation, begging him to take her, he felt his willpower give way. She was working on his belt, unbuckling the black leather item, and he pushed her hands away. Her face fell in disappointment, but that lasted only a second as he pulled her into his arms and ravished her with a deep kiss.

Their tongues tangled and teeth gnashed until she was moaning and he was ready to burst. Ben told himself to keep his head. He had to make this good for both of them.

He released Rey and ordered, “Take off your bikini, Omega.”

“You can rip it off me if you want, Alpha,” she said, twisting tantalisingly before him, the bright yellow fabric emphasizing her golden tan, barely containing the swell of her little breasts, the bottoms firmly embedded between the pert cheeks of her ass. 

“Oh no, baby,” he growled low. “I’m gonna want you to wear that slutty little outfit another time. In fact, I think I’ve been remiss in not buying you pretty lingerie to wear around me all these weeks. Now get undressed.”

She beamed at him. “Yes, Alpha.”

He sighed as her bikini top fell away with a quick tug, and felt his body tighten as she played with the string on her hip, undoing the bow but still holding the garment together. He lost patience and pulled her toward him, sitting down on the edge of the bed as she stood between his muscular thighs. Ben peeled off her skimpy bikini bottoms and it came away like flypaper, sticky with the slick gushing from her pink cunt.

She was so aroused her juices dripped down slim thighs, the neat pink slit of her quim parting like a blossoming flower. Ben slid callused thumbs into her tight passage and spread her open, admiring glistening flesh. She wanted him so badly clear honey had created a sparkling pool deep inside her core. He could dip his cock in there and die a happy man.

Instead, he brought her closer, thumbs still planted within her sensitive channel, and began suckling on firm breasts. He drew a tight ruby nipple deep into his mouth and teased it with tongue and teeth, his thumbs continuing to stroke her wet slot. Rey whimpered as he lapped her little breast from circumference to tip and back again, sucking as much flesh as he could into his mouth at the end. He repeated the tender action with her other tit, all the while rubbing the weeping lips of her cunt with the pads of his thumbs.

By the time he was done tending to her breasts, Rey’s knees were starting to shake and slick covered his hands to the wrists, a puddle of the stuff collecting on the wood panelled floor where she stood.

“Look at the mess you made, naughty girl,” he said, his voice as dark as burnt pitch.

“Please, Alpha,” she responded, her voice a breathless sob. “I want to be good.”

Ben smiled but there was no humour there, only desire. He was in charge, in control of this sweet Omega with her mouthwatering pheromones, his rampant desire reducing her to nothing more than his plaything. He intended to have his way with her body until she was thoroughly used up, and then he would consume her like a candied treat.

Ben let go of Rey and her legs gave way. She sat dazedly at his feet, watching as he undressed. Her lashes fluttered when she saw he’d kept his belt in hand.

“Get on the bed, Omega,” he commanded when at last he was naked, his cock a swollen, throbbing battering ram that could no longer be ignored.

Rey crawled her way onto the king mattress, watching Ben with a mixture of adoration and apprehension. He snapped the belt and she flinched, making him chuckle.

“On your hands and knees, little one,” he murmured.

She whimpered, “Yes, Alpha,” as she got into position. 

Ben admired the dripping hot slice between Rey’s thighs as she pointed her buttocks his way, turning her head so she could watch him over one shoulder. He pushed her down so she no longer rested on her hands but on her shoulders, her bottom waving in the air like a tantalising promise. He grabbed her wrists and held them behind her back, looping his belt around and pulling tight.

“Alpha!” Rey cried out but made no more protests. 

Once her hands were tied, Ben gripped wet thighs and spread them wide, exposing her sizzling little cunt. He could see her clit had slipped its protective folds, a tiny red tongue amongst shiny pink petals. A surge of need caused his cock to jerk so hard warm pre-cum splattered the backs of her legs. He’d never needed a woman like he needed Rey right now. She was his girl, his Omega.

Her scent was intense, the strawberries and limes of her pheromones so concentrated he swallowed reflexively. He longed to devour her, but first things first.

“Are you ready for me, little one?” he asked, stroking her still damp chestnut red hair, her head pressed against a pillow.

“Yes, Alpha,” she moaned, hazel eyes screwed shut.

Ben gripped the belt around Rey’s wrists, using it like a harness to hold her in place, thrusting his steel hard erection deep inside her clasping velvet cunt. He pushed inch after unyielding inch of his stiff cock into her tunnel, filling her completely and nearly splitting her in two. She moaned and quivered and twitched beneath him, receiving his manhood with delirious pleasure.

Ben groaned as he penetrated an Omega cunt for the first time in his life. Slowly Rey welcomed him, her warm, wet muscles swallowing him whole, consuming his burning cock and nearly fracturing his mind. She was open to him and yet as clenched as a closed fist, her cunt squeezing until he thought he would embarrass himself by blowing his cork in mere seconds. 

Ben took a deep breath, attempting to centre himself. His Alpha desires had inflamed his brain, requiring one thing and one thing only, but Rey was painfully tight and he retained enough sanity to know he couldn’t hurt the little one wrapped so willingly around his body. He eased out in slow, sticky inches, and when it was only his bulging tip that was snug within her quim, he thrust balls deep back inside her.

She moaned his designation out loud and he was lost. He gripped her by belted wrists and hammered into her, his rod thick and stiff, her cunt hot and wet, revelling in the slap of his hips against her smooth buttocks. He couldn’t believe how good her Omega cunt felt. The clasp of her sheathe strangled his cock, a vice made of living, breathing silk, her tunnel so hot and snug it stole his breath. She was unbelievably wet, so responsive to everything he did, saturated with desire for her Alpha. Over and over he invaded her body, losing himself in unimagined pleasure.

Rey’s first orgasm hit hard. She screamed as she came, shaking and quivering, crying out “Alpha” as her insides melted like wax, coating his manhood with even more honey. Ben found time to smirk, pleased by her loss of control. It was all for him, every droplet of sweat and every bead of slick, a needy response to his Alpha manipulation of her Omega body, and still she was pinned to his throbbing staff.

He loved the small noises she was making in her throat, her sweet cries driving him wild, letting him know Alpha was pleasing her, delighting her like no one else had. He was acutely aware of her small, lithe form, the way she tilted her pelvis to take him deeper, so greedy for him, wanting more even though he swore he’d reached the limits of her snug silken passageway. She lifted her hips to meet his loins, his big, smooth balls bumping her plump mound, teasing her protuberant ruby clit. She matched his rhythm exactly, accepting whatever pace he set, slow and gentle, hard and fast.

His Omega. She gave herself into his keeping with complete, unequivocal trust. 

Ben continued his savage and thorough screwing of Rey’s cunt, pounding her without mercy, grunting with every thrust. Her knees were buckling and he tightened his grip on the leather belt, wrapping his other arm around her tiny waist, holding her up and continuing to ride her tight little quim. His body was singing, his blood lust high. He felt like he could last forever.

Rey’s knees slid further apart until she was almost completely flat on the bed, her thighs doing a near perfect split. Ben continued to claim her from behind, long, blissful plunges of his swollen organ that made the petals of her sex spread and clench around him. He liked this position, he realised in a haze of satisfaction, as if he were an alpha wolf and she his submissive bitch.

Ben thrust and pumped and fucked his sweet Omega until she was sobbing with a second orgasm, and then a third, and a fourth. Still he kept going, sweat pouring down his back, dripping off his face, his mouth drawn back in a rictus grin, his eyes ablaze with his domination of the tight cunt beneath him, his pleasure centres on fire with wave after wave of lust. He lost track of time, blood boiling, muscles and veins popping.

Ben had no idea how long passed before he reached his first climax. He felt everything human about him shut down, the Alpha beast he’d so long denied coming out in snarls and growls. He sank his teeth into the curve of Rey’s golden neck, barely missing her delicate gland, eyes bulging as he readied himself to come. He exploded like a pistol, filling his Omega with hot, creamy jets of male seed, branding her with his essence. She climaxed once more in response, plaintive wails filling his ears. 

And then the dark muscle at the root of his meaty cock began to swell and grow, a bulb of flesh that proclaimed who he was with feral simplicity. Ben let go of Rey’s wrists, leaning over her prone body, caging her within his muscular arms. He didn’t think, he simply obeyed the call of nature, slamming his hips forward. 

His hard knot slid inside her quivering pink cunt with unexpected tenderness, her wet muscles protesting even as they welcomed the intrusion, his bulge locking her into place. Ben howled as Rey’s velvet quim clamped down hard on his knot, making him come yet again, filling her womb with more of his seed. She would have overflowed if he hadn’t been there, tied to her cunt. 

“Alpha,” she moaned, shuddering beneath him. “Alpha, it’s too much. Please, Alpha!”

“Ssh, baby,” he husked, licking his lips as she squirmed, causing her quim to grip his knot even harder. “That’s my good girl, taking all of me. You’re so perfect, Rey. My precious little one.”

Ben undid the belt around Rey’s wrists before he collapsed, rolling onto his side and taking her with him, rocking her gently within his arms. She whimpered and whined, nestling her face in the crook his arm, her fingers clutching at his muscles as if she never wanted to let go. Ben felt wondrous emotion fill his chest, an all-encompassing compassion for this Omega, a desire to nurture and protect… to chain her to the bed and have her for always.

His knot continued to be stroked and teased by her wet little quim, her slick bathing the swollen bump, coaxing more seed from his churning sacs. Ben kissed and licked and nibbled the pink gland on Rey’s neck as he rode out multiple orgasms, his skin hot to touch and mouth dry with dehydration, his girl a whimpering, quivering mess of limbs. 

Water. They would need a long drink of water after all this and then he would fuck her again. His manhood twitched at this thought, still buried deep inside her dripping cunt. By the time his knot receded and he was able to slide out of her well used sheathe, he was freshly erect. Ben glanced out the window and was surprised to see the sky had turned the pale lavender of twilight. They’d been at it for hours.

He kissed Rey on the forehead as she dozed beside him, reaching over her body to grab his phone. He intended to call Poe for supplies and then saw his friend had already sent him a text. It read: 

_Food and water outside the door. I’ve told Paige to keep it coming until your heat runs its course._

The message was followed by a winky face emoji.

Ben staggered to his feet, wrapping a sheet around his hips just in case a stray Omega caught sight of him, and opened the door to find several bottles of water and a roast chicken with all the fixings waiting for him on a tray. He pulled it inside and drained three bottles one after the other, taking a drink to Rey once he’d had enough. 

She whined as he pulled her upright, waking her up, and he used his Alpha voice to make her drink. Once she began, however, she was able to finish the rest of the bottle without his assistance. He tore into the chicken with bare hands, taking big bites before feeding her smaller mouthfuls. Rey ate from his fingers, her hazel gaze fixed on him in starry-eyed wonder.

As soon as they were both fed and watered, Ben spread Rey out on the bed and pushed his throbbing cock back inside her soft, squishy cunt. His thrusting hips started slow, gradually picking up pace, his need for his Omega barely sated. 

Ben realised for the first time in his life that his heat was not an inconvenience nor a form of torture concocted by his biology. Rather it was confirmation of who he was at his core. He was Alpha, and it was very, very good. 

It was an epiphany he would hold onto for a lifetime, one that wouldn’t have taken place had it not been for Rey. As riotous hormones took control, turning Ben into a beast with only one dominant thought, he looked forward to the next several days in gleeful anticipation.


	20. She Used To Be Mine

All her life, Rey knew there was something missing. 

She’d lost a piece of herself the day her parents sold her to a flesh peddler. Rejection made her believe she was worthless, and if not utterly worthless, then worth less when compared to other females around her. The week she spent with Ben in their blue bedroom, a willing recipient of her Alpha’s lust, being knotted and consumed and fucked within an inch of her life, was the most complete she’d ever been.

She understood even that was problematic, because it meant she’d placed her value in an Alpha’s attention. Rey was certain Ben cared for her, this perfect, unattainable male who shouldered his own baggage and insecurities, but she didn’t dare believe his compassion was anything more than what a good Alpha might show his Omega. To be loved by Ben Solo was a possibility Rey dared not imagine.

Ben’s heat lasted a full two weeks, after which he emerged strong and refreshed, his mood buoyed and his smiles easy to come by. He’d lost weight thanks to their rigorous time together, but that seemed to be the only impact on his body. Rey, on the other hand, required another week to recover, though that too had its highlights. Alpha tended to her assiduously, his plush mouth never far from kissing her lips, his tongue lapping her Omega gland until raw flesh protested, feeding her by hand and drawing her baths, brushing her hair and bringing her flowers. 

By the time Rey was back to full strength, her relationship with Ben had shifted once more. They were closer than ever, bound to each other in ways that went beyond what was natural. They were in each other’s thoughts and she found herself able to predict his reaction to things, sensing his emotions before anyone else. It was both scary and exhilarating for an Omega who assumed she’d always be unmated, not that Ben had proposed marriage or anything like it. 

Rey fielded a barrage of questions from her curious sisters after the event. There was no judgment from them, though Kaydel was upset when she was excluded from the juicier details of the discussion. At first, it only brought Rey joy to talk about the less combustible parts of her time with Ben, but as the days and weeks went by, she grew restless.

The time was drawing close to her twenty-first birthday and despite all they’d been through, Ben still spoke eagerly about returning to Coruscant. It hurt to realise what had been life changing for her, a connection she would give anything to maintain, was for him a quirk of nature he’d move on from eventually. 

Rey wondered if Ben would find himself an Omega lover once he returned to the city, or would he simply continue his easy sexual relationships with gorgeous Betas? Probably the latter. After all, he’d been willing to pay Bazine to come to Jakku, uncertain whether Rey was strong enough to handle his heat. The memory of his statement still stung. 

A part of her, the side Leia had nurtured encouraging free thought and independence, longed to ask Ben about them, whether he thought they might have a future together. But her Omega half cringed at the idea of being so audacious, for what if he rejected her? Rey didn’t think she would survive the experience. Better to let Ben walk away without suffering through an excruciating explanation about why he didn’t want to be with her.

The week of Jannah’s eighteenth birthday, Ben surprised them by calling a family meeting. Rey was as much in the dark as her sisters and five pairs of clear Omega eyes looked curiously at him as he stood at the head of the dining table. 

“I know we’re having a party on Saturday for Jannah,” he began, sounding a little on edge. “I understand Poe’s coming too,” he continued, shooting Paige a look and making her blush, “so I thought I could take you guys shopping for new outfits.”

Rey recovered first. After all, Alpha had promised her this exact thing in the past. “That sounds wonderful, Ben,” she said, giving him a sweet smile.

He looked relieved at her response, but that vanished when the birthday girl herself stood up. “Are you kidding?” she asked fiercely.

Ben stared at Jannah, his expression disconcerted. “It’s a gift,” he explained, “but if you’d rather not accept anything from me…”

He abruptly stopped speaking when Jannah flew across the dining room and threw herself at him, wrapping bronze arms around his neck in an enthusiastic hug. “That sounds amazing!” she squealed.

Ben cleared his throat and gave her an awkward pat on the back before she let go. He looked pleased when Jannah announced she was going to research the latest fashion trends, her sisters racing her to the computer in the living room.

Rey gave Ben an amused smile as soon as they were alone. “You do realise this is going to be expensive.”

He shrugged, sitting down on a dining chair and pulling her onto his lap. “I like making you happy.”

Touched by his words, she kissed him square on the lips. “Thank you.”

“For what?” he asked, one hand sliding under her blouse to cup her unfettered breasts, massaging gently. 

“For taking care of my family,” she sighed, returning her lips to Ben’s.

What she really wanted to say was they could be his family too, if only he wanted her as much as she wanted him, but on that point Rey remained silent. Instead she kissed her Alpha until they were both so turned on they had to dash upstairs for a quickie.

Not that any sexual encounter with Ben went quick. He seemed fascinated by her body, and even more so her wet little cunt, spending an inordinate amount of time pumping her tight channel with his big cock, delaying his own climax with supreme self-control just so he could plunder her moist velvet passage over and over again, letting her know what a good girl she was to spread her legs for Alpha so he could use her as his personal cock sleeve. 

The shopping trip was as chaotic as Rey predicted. Jakku had only one mall and they all piled into Ben’s car to head there, Kaydel sitting on the front passenger seat with Rey. As soon as they arrived at the shops, the sisters split up. Rey and Paige took a sulky Kaydel with them, while Rose and Jannah ran as far away as possible, promising to call Rey’s cell phone as soon as they found the perfect outfits.

Rey nearly gave up on finding Kaydel a party dress. Their littlest sister was cranky about being ditched by Rose and Jannah and predisposed to hating everything they picked. It seemed Kaydel was determined to dress her age and “not like a child”, which she proclaimed loudly while looking very much like a toddler about to have a tantrum in the middle of a department store. 

To Rey’s astonishment, Ben came to the rescue. He disappeared mid-argument and reappeared ten minutes later, handing Kaydel a pink dress that could have been a disaster except it was a shiny, metallic pink with a ruffled underskirt and broad black shoulder straps. The teenager tried it on and fell in love, disappointed when she had to take it off again so they could pay for the garment.

Paige seemed determined to pick the cheapest dress she could find when Ben gently reminded her she might want to wear something Poe would like. He then proceeded to pick half a dozen outfits for Paige to try on and she finally settled on a gorgeous ice white cocktail dress with a short skirt and silver beaded bodice, a long, flouncing white fringe running down its side.

Paige thanked Ben profusely before dragging Kaydel away from him, bribing her sister with the promise of ice-cream so Rey and her Alpha could be alone. 

“You have a great eye,” Rey said, a little jealous about the attention he’d given her sisters.

He smiled wickedly. “Just you wait, Omega,” he promised, his tone making her breathless.

To the bemusement of the shop assistants, Ben parked Rey in a change room and proceeded to hand her a variety of dresses to try just like he had with Paige. Rey adored one garment that had thin spaghetti straps and a flowing, calf length skirt in a deep jade green, but Ben insisted she keep looking.

After nearly an hour, Rey slipped on a terribly modern dress with sleeves down to her wrist and a high neck made out of the sheerest black nylon, skintight and completely exposed. Little panels of fabric embellished with sparkling black crystals were placed strategically over her breasts and down the side, connecting the bodice to a frilly black skirt that barely covered her bottom. It was both sexy and oddly feminine.

“Ben, I can’t wear this!” Rey protested, staring at herself in the mirror. She looked like a different girl in the dress, someone sophisticated and worldly.

“Would you do it for me?”

Rey was caught in a quandary. Ben knew she couldn’t say no to him, not when he was paying for the entire shopping trip. 

“That’s not fair,” she pouted and he laughed, kissing her on the lips. 

“You’re so cute when you’re mad,” he teased, and proceeded to buy both the avantgarde black number as well and the jade green dress she loved, shushing her protests. 

Once she had her dresses, he led her to the lingerie section of the store and embarrassed Rey almost to death by requesting an assortment of slinky garments for her to wear. He set aside a small heap of fragile underthings, silks, satins and lace, sheer and embroidered, making the shop assistants giggle with his comments. By that point, they’d attracted half a dozen Beta women all willing to get this Alpha whatever he wanted. Just as a tall brunette brushed against Ben’s hard muscled arms with her outsized breasts, Ben paused over a particularly scandalous garment. 

He handed it to Rey, the items looking miniscule wrapped around his fingers. “Go put this on, sweetheart.”

She stared at him. “Now, Alph- Ben?”

“Right now.”

Rey rushed off to do as he requested, heart pumping hard in her chest. She heard Ben dismiss the salesgirls and two minutes later he walked into the change room, startling her.

He surveyed her for a moment, amber eyes turning to onyx. “You look… nice.”

Rey blushed crimson. The bra was a slinky little thing, completely sheer and barely covering the swell of her firm breasts. The matching panty was nothing more than a bundle of black ribbon, wrapping around her hips and disappearing between her smooth buttocks, framing tanned skin.

Ben moved closer, pressing her against the mirrored wall with his body. She could feel his hard length against her belly, his pants revealing the swollen shaft of his sex. She swallowed a gasp at the size of him, but was distracted when he bent his head to kiss her lips, his hands fondling her buttocks before sliding to her warm little mound, stroking smooth flesh, pushing aside narrow strips of fabric to tease her most sensitive place, still tender from his attentions in the early hours of the morning.

“Ben,” Rey protested, but she should have kept her mouth shut.

He slid to his knees and pressed his mouth to the weeping slit of her cunt, licking and teasing, eating her out delicately. Rey came a few minutes later in a sticky gush of slick, one leg draped over his broad shoulders and three of his fingers buried deep in her tight passage. Ben looked pleased with himself as she moaned his name.

Rey suspected more would have happened had her phone not rung that second. It was Jannah and Rose to say they had found their dresses and needed Ben to complete the transaction.

It took Rey a few minutes to get back into her everyday clothes, after which Ben paid for the lingerie and they picked up Paige and Kaydel from the food court. Paige gave a flushed and glowing Rey a suspicious look, but she studiously avoided her sister’s gaze. 

They reunited with the other girls to find Jannah had chosen a neon yellow silk shirt dress that was entirely her style, feminine with an edge. In contrast, Rose’s outfit was a complete shock. The sweet brunette had always been their resident tomboy but the aquamarine dress she’d picked was surprisingly sensual. It had a deep V neckline exposing the swell of her breasts, the bodice covered in big, jewel-like embellishments with a frothy ballet skirt. 

Ben received four separate hugs from his Omegas once they were home, and the day ended with Rey wearing a sheer lavender lace teddy while wrapped around her Alpha. Their lovemaking was more enthusiastic than graceful, with Ben promising Rey several more shopping trips just as long as this was how she thanked him every time, his groaning declarations making her laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Interesting side note, the dresses purchased by each girl in this chapter are outfits every actress who portrayed the characters have worn in real life. All you need to do is Google image Daisy Ridley/ Ngo Thanh Van/ Kelly Marie Tran/ Naomie Ackie/ Billie Lourd and the word ‘photoshoot’ (one at a time, of course) and you’ll hopefully find the specific dress I’ve referred to.


	21. Not What I Asked For

Everything was going so well, but Ben should have known it was too good to last. The mixture of pheromones in Rey’s home had the potential to be incendiary and it didn’t take much to produce a spark, though the explosions that occurred were not the ones he’d anticipated.

He blamed Poe. And Armitage Hux.

Everything was ready for the party on Saturday. Paige had baked Jannah’s favourite cake, a triple layer hazelnut dream covered in soft chocolate meringue rather than icing, while Rey made several trays of the gooiest macaroni and cheese Ben had ever seen. Rose and Kaydel decorated the house with balloons and streamers, and he made sure the fridge was stocked with a variety of drinks, including a couple of bottles of good liquor to keep Poe happy. 

The first surprise, as far as Ben was concerned, was the arrival of Rose’s friend and work colleague Finn. He stepped into the house with gift in hand, his boyishly handsome face nervous, dressed in dark slacks and a blue polo shirt. Jannah claimed the present with a breezy “thank you” before Rose arrived to lead Finn into the living room.

Ben was pleased he’d been there helping Rey with a bag of ice so he could witness the younger man’s thunderstruck expression when he saw Rose for the first time. She was wearing her gorgeous aquamarine dress and had twisted her black hair into a complicated looking chignon atop her head. What made her appearance truly confusing was Rose still acted like she had on a pair of ratty jeans and a grease stained t-shirt. 

Rose politely introduced Ben to Finn, and he caught the younger girl give Rey a pointed look while he was still shaking Finn’s hand. Before he knew it, Ben was being asked to do something else in the kitchen, separating him from the Beta male. Ben recognised he was being handled by these sweet little Omegas but decided to let it go. He didn’t need to be an overprotective Alpha when Rose was clearly having a moment. Of all the sisters, she’d always seemed the most level headed to him.

Jannah’s friends arrived next, a group of three Beta girls who looked taken aback by her bright silk dress as well as the changes to the house. He had to admit, Jannah looked stunning. Her full lips were glossy with deep crimson lipstick, the dress making her skin glow like toasted butter, her halo of bronze curls pulled into a high, bouncy ponytail. 

Ben caught more than one appreciative look aimed in his direction and tried not to laugh when Rey grew impatient with the attention he was receiving, wrapping her arms around his neck and openly kissing him to stake her claim.

Things ticked along fairly well for the first little while. Jannah and her friends gathered around the new sound system, playing her collection of vintage records. Rose and Finn retired to the couch chatting and laughing. Paige was adding the finishing flourishes to Jannah’s cake while Kaydel ran around playing waitress, getting drinks and replenishing snack bowls. Ben grabbed Rey, who looked stunning in her sheer black cocktail dress, her chestnut hair in shiny Barbie doll waves, and was kissing her in a corner of the kitchen.

He was feeling a little smug about how well the party was going when it all rapidly came undone. The doorbell rang to announce Poe’s arrival, and with him, looking like a man ready to stab anything that moved, was Hux. 

Ben had known Poe since elementary school, the two Alphas weathering first crushes and burgeoning heats together, the passage of time creating an unbreakable bond. Armitage Hux was a more recent addition. He’d arrived in their final year of high school, a lanky, parchment pale redhead with sharp features and glowing blue eyes who spoke like someone’s idea of an English butler. 

The three of them should have been a match made in hell, and in fact they were at the start. Hux had all the simmering rage of an Alpha with no self-control while Poe thought it was funny to provoke everyone generally and the new guy in particular. Visits to the principal’s office became common occurrence as Poe and Hux duked it out in hallways and classrooms, with Ben drawn into skirmishes when things got out of hand, which was always.

Looking back from a vantage point of over a decade, Ben knew the exact moment the tide turned. 

He was exiting school after football practice when he caught sight of Hux going toe to toe with a brawny man who was quite obviously his father. Apart from the red hair, the Alpha’s posh accent immediately gave it away. Not knowing why, Ben ducked behind a pillar to watch the altercation. It ended when Hux’s father threw an unrestrained punch, laying out his son and bloodying his knuckles. Brendol Hux left Armitage on the ground to pick himself up and stagger his way to his father’s gleaming black car. 

After years of envying Poe for his Alpha father and Beta mother with their seemingly happy relationship, Ben realised some people had it much worse than him. Han and Leia may have been at odds with one another, but he couldn’t deny they loved him. What he’d seen Brendol do was tantamount to physical abuse, and all the cuts and bruises Hux displayed when getting changed for gym class finally made sense.

The next day, Ben reigned in Poe’s acid tongue with a threat and went to sit with Hux during lunch. It could have been social suicide, except Ben was the star of the football team and Poe threw the best parties at his parents’ mansion, and neither one of them was about to become an outcast for befriending the English guy. It helped, of course, that Hux was an Alpha. Certain prejudices never died.

Twelve years later and the three men had remained friends, though Hux continued to make the most questionable life choices. It was tough living up to the expectations of a violent and abusive father. 

When the doorbell rang, Ben sent Paige to greet Poe since he was hoping the sight of her in the shimmering white minidress would make his friend’s night, but Paige immediately backed away from the open door, her expression alarmed.

Hux staggered inside the house ahead of Poe, looking Paige up and down with unabashed interest. “And who are you?” he asked, just as Poe wrapped his arm around Paige and brought her close to him, glowering at Hux in full Alpha mode.

“Ah, so this one’s Paige,” Hux smirked. He turned his head and caught sight of Ben. “Hey, stranger! Poe invited me to check out your little Omega paradise here in sunny Jakku.”

“I didn’t invite you, jackass. You jumped in my car and refused to get out,” Poe said irritably.

“Are you drunk?” Ben asked Hux, who brought his thumb and index finger together as if to say, ‘just a little’. “Damnit, Hux, if you can’t hold your liquor, I’m kicking you out right now.”

“You and what army?” Hux replied belligerently.

Ben walked up to his friend, smelling the whiskey on his breath. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Poe give Paige a quick kiss before sending her into the next room, wanting her out of the way in case things got violent. “This is my house,” Ben growled, flexing his Alpha muscles like he hadn’t in a long while. “Are you going to respect that?”

Hux met his gaze and Ben felt the air thicken with competing Alpha scents. While he had more muscle mass than his friend, Hux was built along similar lines to him, just as tall and broad. If it came down to a fight, there was no doubt in Ben’s mind blood would be spilt. 

“Fine,” Hux mumbled, holding up his hands. “Whatever you say, supreme Alpha.”

Ben ignored the jibe and turned on Poe. “What the hell were you thinking bringing him to the party in his condition?”

Hux had stumbled into the kitchen and was helping himself to a cheesy plateful of pasta. Ben hoped the food would soak up some of the alcohol.

Poe ran a hand through tousled curls, his face conflicted. “Look, Ben, you have no idea how bad he’s been. You’re in the styx, screwing your Omega to your hearts content while I’ve had to deal with the mess we call our friend.”

Ben scowled. “What do you mean?”

“I told you Hux finally ended things with Jessika Pava…”

“The woman is married to one of the executive’s in his dad’s company,” Ben snapped. “We all knew it was never gonna last.”

“Yeah, well, Hux is convinced his heart is broken,” Poe grimaced. “All he’s done is pine for her. It’s been exhausting picking up the pieces after his drunken nights out.” 

Ben and Poe looked into the kitchen once more and saw Hux seated cross legged atop the dining table, working through a huge plate of mac and cheese with a meditative expression on his face. 

“Good grief,” Ben muttered.

“Add to the fact you and I have both become distracted by certain Omegas here in Jakku, and Hux has started feeling abandoned on multiple fronts.”

Ben took a deep breath, telling himself to control his irritation. “I don’t mind that he’s here, Poe, I just don’t want him ruining the party.”

“We’ll have to keep an eye on him, won’t we? You think I’m gonna let Hux anywhere near Paige?” Poe demanded. At this last question, his expression miraculously brightened. “Thanks for getting her that dress, by the way. It kills me knowing you saw her in it before I did, but that’s a gift that keeps on giving, my friend.”

Ben chuckled. “Have you seen Rey? She looks like she’s come off a catwalk at Hosnia Fashion Week in her outfit.”

“You two are nauseating,” Hux declared, appearing behind them. It sounded as if his impromptu dinner had helped stabilise him somewhat. “Are these women you’re dating or dolls you get to play with?”

Poe’s smile broadened. “Both?”

“Come on,” Ben sighed, “let’s go meet the gang.” 

The three Alphas walked into the living room and Ben felt the atmosphere change. He’d hoped Jannah’s music would have prevented the partygoers from becoming aware of any problems, but based on the level of anxiety on both Rey and Paige’s faces that hadn't happened.

“Is everything alright, Alpha?” Rey asked, her wide hazel eyes darting from Ben to Poe and finally, curiously, to Hux.

Ben kissed her, bringing his mouth to the gland on her neck and suckling briefly, attempting to soothe his girl. “An unexpected guest, sweetheart,” he murmured. “It’s fine- Hux is a friend.”

Ben did the honours, introducing Hux to the crowd. Kaydel went to stand behind Paige, her arms around her sister’s waist, unsettled by the entrance of yet another Alpha male. Rose looked interested though Finn’s expression had become intimidated, and Jannah… Ben nearly groaned aloud at the fury on Jannah’s gorgeous face.

Hux being Hux, still a little intoxicated and never too self-aware, a problem faced by most Alphas, pushed past Jannah’s petrified girlfriends to stand in front of her.

“The birthday girl,” he declared, sounding pleased. “I didn’t bring a gift, darling, but I do have this for you.”

Ben watched what happened next as if in slow motion, both horrified and disbelieving.

Hux wrapped his arms around Jannah’s little waist, picking up the beautiful Omega and kissing her full on the lips. It felt like the entire room held their breath while the tall Alpha ravished Jannah with a kind of feral abandonment, her lips parting to accept his tongue as Hux dominated her completely. 

After several elastic seconds, Hux ended the kiss to Jannah’s accompanying whimper, the smug smile that had been on his face gone. He looked stunned, clutching the Omega female he’d just met against his broad chest.

Jannah brought a shaking hand to her wet mouth, her glossy lipstick ruined, and with a sinking heart Ben wondered if that had been her first kiss. Her glorious dark eyes filled with tears and before Hux could put her down she swung her open palm, delivering a slap across his face that rang like a shot. 

Hux let go of Jannah abruptly, realising he'd done something wrong, and the girl fled the room. 

There was a petrified silence which Poe unhelpfully broke. “I guess the party’s over.”


	22. Life Slips In Through A Back Door

Rey was furious. She’d never been so angry in all her life, not even the day her psychology professor called Leia to insinuate Rey must have cheated in her exams because there was no way their only Omega student could be at the top of the class.

Jannah was upstairs locked in her bedroom and, as Poe had so eloquently put it, the party was indeed over. Rey and Paige ushered out most of their guests with hurried apologies. She heard Finn ask Rose in a whisper if she wanted him to stay, but Rose replied in the negative with an amused grin. Her nonchalant attitude remained intact, though she was keeping a steady eye on Ben’s Alpha friend Hux.

Once their less problematic guests were gone, Paige insisted Kaydel head to bed, not wanting the little girl involved in the argument that was surely about to take place. The blonde promptly burst into tears at the injustice of it all, and her sobs could still be heard through her bedroom door, making the three Alphas even twitchier.

At last they were as alone as they were going to get and Rey felt she was able to vent, turning to face Ben.

“How could you let that happen?” she hissed, trying to keep her voice down so no one else heard. As it was, her Omega instincts were shrieking at this show of rebellion against Alpha. 

“Excuse me?” Ben snapped back. “I’m pretty sure we were all in the same room when Hux did whatever the hell he wanted. He didn’t exactly ask for permission.”

“I’m sorry,” Hux said abruptly, the words clearly taking a lot of effort. “Um, is she, the Omega, I mean,” as Rey glared at him, “your sister, Jannah… is she okay?”

For an answer to this, the group turned to look at Rose who shrugged. “I knocked on the door but she refused to answer. It didn’t sound like she was crying, if that helps.”

“You assaulted her,” Rey said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Poe protested, trying to ease the tension. “Assault is an ugly word. All Hux did was kiss her.”

“Oh, is that all, Poe?” Paige spoke up, her voice trembling and eyes shimmering with tears. “Hux took away Jannah’s choice when he grabbed her. I think that qualifies as assault.” 

Poe looked taken aback and Hux groaned, burying his face in his hands. Rey had to admit, the man did look repentant.

“I think we all need to take a breath,” Rose said unexpectedly. “There are a lot of pheromones flying around and we don’t want to make this situation any worse than it already is.”

Rey blinked, hearing the rationale in her sister’s words and tried to wrestle her emotions back under control.

Paige looked shocked. “Rose, how could you say that? Of all of us, you’re closest to Jannah. This was a betrayal. Hux is an Alpha who had no right touching an Omega.”

“Yeeeah,” Rose drawled, “or he’s just a drunken idiot kissing a pretty girl at a party. I mean, if we’re gonna bring designation politics into the mix, things are gonna get ugly fast.”

To Rey’s surprise, Ben chuckled. He swallowed the reaction as soon as he could, but not before Poe gave him a small smile.

“Rose is right,” Rey announced, watching her words take the fire out of Paige’s dark eyes. “I’m sorry, Ben, I shouldn’t have blamed you for what happened.”

“Hux is my friend,” Ben said, grabbing Rey by the hand and pulling her up against him. “I hold some responsibility. I should have told him to wait in the car once I realised he was drunk.”

Rey rested her head on his chest. “I have the impression Hux wouldn’t have taken that suggestion lying down.”

“That’s for sure,” Poe muttered, looking longingly at Paige who was still upset.

“Hey, guys,” Rose spoke up suddenly, “where’s Hux gone?”

Sure enough, the redheaded Alpha was no longer in the living room.

“Oh, heck no,” Paige spluttered, turning and running up the stairs. 

The rest of the group followed, and before long they were standing outside Jannah’s door. 

“Do we really think he’s in there?” Poe whispered. “I mean, maybe he went for a walk to cool off. He looked pretty upset.”

“How do you think Jannah felt?” Paige demanded, her eyes shiny with tears.

“Paige, baby, Hux is an idiot but he’s not a monster,” Poe said, trying unsuccessfully to take her hand.

“Hux may have wanted to apologise to Jannah,” Rey suggested hesitantly.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Ben said, looking grim. 

He reached for Jannah’s doorknob and to everyone’s surprise it turned. Ben stuck his head inside the room and then withdrew quickly, the strangest expression on his face. 

“What is it, Ben?” Rey asked worriedly. “Is Jannah okay?”

He coughed, and she realised he was buying time before he spoke. “Jannah’s fine,” was his eventual answer, amber eyes bright. 

“And was Hux with her?” Rey prompted, trying not to get annoyed.

“Yes, definitely,” Ben replied, and he gave Poe a look that bordered on desperation.

She saw understanding dawn on Poe’s face, and he said, “Well, that’s that. Shall we head to the kitchen for a nightcap?”

“Are you joking?” Paige snapped. “I’m not leaving my sister alone with that Alpha.” 

She stepped forward but Ben was there barring the way before she could enter the room, his face determined. “You don’t want to do that, Paige.”

“You too, Ben?” Paige hissed, her hands in little fists. “What’s going on?”

Ben seemed to be struggling to form an answer and Rey grew suspicious. She cast her mind back to the kiss, the way Hux had grabbed Jannah, pulling her against him and ravishing her mouth. She hadn’t protested in the moment; if anything Jannah had leaned into his embrace.

“Oh, no,” Rey groaned, throwing her hands up in the air. “Are Hux and Jannah having sex?”

Rose made a choking sound and Paige gasped. 

Ben looked relieved she’d got there in the end. “Yup.”

“Unbelievable,” Rose muttered. 

“You know what I find unbelievable?” Poe said somewhat sulkily. “That Hux is getting more action in one night than I have in weeks.”

At this, Paige burst into tears and ran downstairs. Muttering curses under his breath, Poe followed her.

“Well, that answers my question about how far their relationship has progressed,” Rose said, pink with embarrassment. “I’m gonna head to bed and try to sleep. ‘Try’ being the operative word.”

Rey was grateful she’d been left alone with Ben. She could ask her awkward questions more freely. 

“Are you sure Jannah is alright?” she said softly. Ben smirked and she punched him in the arm. “I mean it, Ben. How do you know she’s not being forced to do something she doesn’t want to?”

“Well, little one,” he said teasingly, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling Rey towards their room, “for one thing Jannah was on top.”

“On top?” Rey squeaked as Ben shut the bedroom door. “Why would she be on top?” 

“Well, it actually gives the female more control,” he replied, kissing her neck as he unzipped the back of her dress. “Imagine if you were on top of me, riding me, your cunt sliding up and down my cock. You could go as fast or slow as you wanted, take your pleasure as you wished.”

Rey felt her mouth go dry at this image, unable to move as her dress puddled on the floor, leaving her in nothing more than a black lace thong. 

“What are you thinking now, Omega?” Ben purred, getting on his knees and tugging her panties off using his teeth. 

“Could I- could we- oh!” she moaned as he slid his tongue deep inside her weeping cunt and gave her quim a slow, sensual massage.

“Did you want to be on top, sweetheart?” he husked in between luscious kisses of her gushing cunt. “Would you like to ride Alpha like a pony?”

She was nearly sobbing with need as she replied, “Yes, p-please, Alpha.”

Ben stripped off his clothes and lay down on the bed, watching in amusement as Rey clambered atop him, straddling his thickly swollen cock. She looked at him for instructions and he shrugged, inviting her to take charge. Rey nibbled her lower lip as she frowned at his erect manhood, wiggling her hips so she was poised above him, pressing the bulging head of his cock to her moist opening.

He sighed at the sensation and she gave him a quick look before lowering herself onto his shaft. From this angle, it was harder to do and Ben gulped involuntarily when Rey reached down and spread her sweet little pussy, opening herself with her fingers so she could screw her cunt onto his cock. 

It took her a minute or two before she was seated completely on his manhood, her heart rate up and her cheeks flushed as her buttocks brushed against his thighs. Rey had never grown used to sex with Ben no matter how many times they’d done it. Every encounter was brand new, reducing her to a gasping mess as he pushed his shaft deep inside her tight pink sheathe. But this time it was she who was guiding him deep into her core, his size splitting her in two, forcing her taut muscles apart with a pleasurable ache. 

She felt unbelievably full and rolled her hips, making Ben groan as his shaft stirred inside her wet tunnel, moving like a pole through thick cement. Some part of him tickled her protuberant clit and she whimpered, grinding down on Ben once more, scrubbing her mound against his pelvis, making sweet little noises as her bud was stroked and teased. Her eyes fluttered shut as she used her Alpha like a dildo, bringing herself off with small, soft strokes.

Rey eventually climaxed with a high pitched squeal, the orgasm raising her temperature and turning her golden skin dewy. She forced open gummy lashes and gave Ben a sensual smile, still embedded on his stiff sex. 

“I need you move, sweetheart,” he said through gritted teeth. “Can you do that for me? Make me come like a good girl?” 

She nodded at once, determined to please this man, murmuring, “Yes, Alpha,” as she lifted her hips and then pushed down on him once more. 

Slick gushed from her core, bathing his shaft in her juices, lubricating the way as she slid along him, filling her clasping tunnel with his throbbing meat. Ben grunted and Rey smiled, enjoying the fact his pleasure was in her control. She rose and lowered herself on his cock once more and he mumbled filthy things in response. Up and down, up and down Rey went, riding Ben’s cock to her own internal rhythm, a sensual trot that had her Alpha pushing his loins up to meet her wet cunt.

Rey came twice more that way, her palms planted on Ben’s muscular chest as she moved her hips over and over, plaintive cries escaping her pink lips as she enjoyed him deep within her core. Still, he hadn’t come, and Rey began to wonder if she was doing it wrong when she felt his cock twitch, a bump swelling around the root of his shaft, his knot growing with her every thrust.

Ben took over, wrapping his hands around her tiny waist and bouncing her on his cock, making Rey squeal as he pounded hard and fast from beneath. She was crying out his name in ecstasy when at last he came, a roar of pleasure filling the room as he shot his seed deep inside her womb, plunging hard enough that his knot pushed deep inside the pink folds of her wet cunt, locking them together.

Ben groaned as his cock jerked within the confines of Rey’s satin sheathe, spilling his seed as if it were a fireman’s hose. Rey collapsed on his chest and Ben held her close, their joined bodies bathed in sweat, their minds melding in sweet harmony.

Rey couldn’t believe the heights of pleasure she had experienced with this Alpha. She considered Jannah briefly and hoped her sister hadn’t made a mistake, but who was she to judge? She was starting to realise a life lived without risk wasn’t a life at all.

Ben mumbled her name as his knot shrank and he slipped out of her, their joint desire spilling onto his thighs. He kissed Rey as he rolled her beneath him, spreading her legs wide and pushing back inside her needy quim.

Rey forgot all her worries as her Alpha pounded her into the mattress. It was time she let go completely.


	23. Makes You Believe It's All True

“I’m not running a dating service!”

“Sorry, Solo,” Hux muttered, managing to sound regretful but look completely unrepentant. He was seated on the couch in the lounge room with Poe next to him grinning like a fiend while Ben paced the floor. “I knocked on Jannah’s door to apologise to her and the little Omega jumped me.”

“Right. Because she’s strong enough to take you down,” Ben said sarcastically.

“I lost control,” Hux admitted. “I’ve only ever had one Omega encounter and it was nothing like that. Jannah’s a wildcat.”

“Stop!” Ben groaned. “I don’t want to know. She’s like a sister to me.”

“I thought you’d lost your mind,” Hux said unexpectedly, bringing Ben’s restless pacing to a halt. “I assumed some hot to trot Omega had sunk her claws in you and your pheromones were dictating your choices.”

“You’re not totally off base,” Poe murmured, earning a scowl from Ben. 

“How was I to know you bloody nufties actually had feelings for these girls? When was the last time either one of you got into a relationship for more than a quick shag?” 

Poe met Ben’s eyes and they both looked away again. Hux wasn’t wrong.

“Look, the sisters were my mother’s mission in life,” Ben said, sitting down on an armchair across from his two friends. “We need to be careful. I mean, I lectured Poe when he first started going out with Paige, but I’m not blameless myself. In two week’s time Rey turns twenty-one and I return to Coruscant, but I have no idea what the fallout of that is gonna be. I mean, apart from the fact I’m going to break Rey’s heart, Kaydel has started treating my like I’m her Alpha protector and… what?” Ben paused when he realised both Poe and Hux were looking at him strangely.

“So that’s it?” Poe asked. “Times up and you just walk away? I don’t think so, buddy.”

“I can’t stay here,” Ben said irritably.

Hux snorted. “There are other options, you know.”

“What do you mean by that?” Ben asked, narrowing his gaze.

“Did you know Jannah’s into fashion?” Hux asked. 

“So?”

“Well, she graduates high school in a few weeks and I wondered about bringing her to Coruscant. There are a couple of reputable design schools I could help get her into…”

“Woah, what?” Poe spluttered. “Do you hear yourself? You met the girl yesterday.”

But Hux’s blue eyes were shining. “She’s amazing. And not your typical Omega either.”

Ben groaned, running a hand through his mane of black hair. That was all he needed, for Hux to become infatuated with Jannah. “Bro, seriously, wasn’t your heart just bleeding over another woman twenty-four hours ago?”

“I don’t know why you two are so against this,” Hux said, bristling like a porcupine. “You’re the ones who told me to give up on Jessika…”

“She’s married.”

“…and now you want me to stay away from Jannah. Make up your minds.” 

Ben shook his head at Poe as the other man opened his mouth to speak. “We’re just saying you need to take it slow.”

“Why?” Hux snapped. “What’s the problem with diving straight in when you know it’s right?”

Hux’s words were still echoing in Ben’s head hours after he bade both his friends goodbye. He decided to have a chat with Jannah even though he himself was unsure how to deal with the situation.

“We should talk,” he said wearily. It felt like all he’d done that day was talk.

He was back in the living room, except this time he faced Jannah and Rey.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Jannah said with her usual breezy confidence, though her cheeks were flushed and her eyes unnaturally bright. “It was just sex, right? I’m a grown woman, Ben.”

Seated beside her sister, Rey rolled her eyes.

“I’m not here to protect you, little Omega,” he snorted. “I need to make sure Hux is looked after.”

Rey’s mouth fell open and Jannah looked incredulous. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the pretty brunette demanded. 

“Hux is… broken,” Ben said hesitantly. 

“He worked fine last night,” Jannah flared, making Rey blush.

Ben bit back a grin. The little Omega was defending her Alpha- that was good to see. 

“You girls have been given a rough picture of Alphas,” Ben said, trying to explain himself. “I get it. My mother’s work exposed her to households where she saw the worst of the worst- exploitation, violence and even slavery. She wanted to protect you from becoming entangled in those situations, but I need you to understand not every Alpha is made that way.” He met Rey’s hazel eyes and she gave him an encouraging smile. Jannah’s response was to scowl. “I mean, Leia was an Alpha herself; a woman, but still an Alpha. She did the best she could for you guys. Hux might be Alpha but he’s…” Ben hesitated, not wanting to expose all his friend’s secrets. “Jannah, Hux grew up abused by the people who should have loved him the most. I’m asking you, as his friend, to treat him right. He’s not an Alpha enemy for you to manipulate and laugh at afterwards. He’s a man who’s been hurt more times than you know.”

Ben looked at Jannah, expecting to see more scorn, but to his amazement the sparkle in her deep brown eyes had been quenched by tears. 

She cleared her throat with difficulty before she spoke. “I- I didn’t know.”

“How could you?” he said quickly, trying to ease her guilt. “You guys have only just met, but I can tell he already cares about you.”

“So all those things he said about wanting to bring me to Coruscant, that was all true?” Jannah asked.

Rey stared at her sister. “Hux wants to do what?” 

“He means it,” Ben said with a grimace. “Whether you take him up on his offer is up to you.”

Jannah shook her head. “It’s too much too soon, Ben.”

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed. “Just tell him if he’s coming on hot and heavy. Hux tends to be like that. He has a problem with boundaries.”

“He’s a passionate male,” Jannah said blushing.

“Please don’t tell me how passionate,” Ben groaned, and she laughed.

Jannah surprised him with a quick hug before she left the room and Ben sighed, sinking lower into the chair. He waited for Rey to join him as was her habit- she enjoyed snuggling- but she hadn’t moved. He wondered what the delay was and saw her sitting pensively on the couch still.

“Rey?”

She spoke slowly. “Hux asked Jannah to be with him in Coruscant. He must really care for her.”

“Or he’s an idiot jumping into a relationship without thinking things through,” Ben replied. 

“Is that what you believe- that a relationship must be carefully planned?”

He looked at Rey in astonishment. “Sweetheart, they’ve known each other for a handful of hours. That’s barely a relationship, it’s more of a speed date.”

She nodded but her expression remained tense. “And how long will you give Poe before his decision to take things further with Paige is acceptable?”

Ben felt his heart sink. He could be an idiot sometimes. “Rey, I don’t know what we are,” he said, bypassing the subject of Poe and Paige entirely, understanding it was their connection that was under the spotlight. “I know that I care about you and your sisters, but I never expected anything serious to develop between us.” 

“Oh?” she said, her hands knotted in her lap.

Ben smothered the need to comfort Rey. He had to speak to her as an adult and not as his Omega. “Have I told you I don’t ever want to get married?” he said desperately. “Growing up the son of Han and Leia meant it was open warfare in my house every day. I’m convinced marriage as an institution is best left to fairy tales, and nothing I’ve experienced while dating other women has changed my mind.”

“Maybe you just haven’t met the right female.”

Ben was already shaking his head and Rey cringed. How could he have thought he’d walk away from this Omega without having a conversation about what they meant to each other? He scrambled for the right words to say.

“Rey it’s not you, it really is me. I can’t be more than who I am. This Alpha I’ve become while in Jakku, who knows if he’ll last once I’m back in Coruscant?”

“What do you mean?” she asked curiously. “You’ve been nothing but good and kind to my sisters and I.”

“For now,” he said grimly. “I’m a ticking timebomb of Alpha neuroses. Rey… I’m not the man for you.” 

“It’s alright, Ben,” she said unexpectedly, holding up a hand as if to stop him from saying anything more. “I may not be rich or sophisticated or beautiful enough to be in magazines…”

“Rey…”

“Let me finish,” she said, her tone firm. “I am learning my worth, thanks to you. I’m beginning to understand the life I have is mine to live. Besides, it may not seem that way, but I never wanted to marry either.”

“Really?” he asked, genuinely surprised.

She smiled at his tone. “I may have dreamt of my perfect mate, but it was always just a dream. I never seriously considered the possibility that I’d find a good man who’d love me as much as I loved him. I certainly don’t want to be with someone who doesn’t wish to be with me.” 

Ben frowned, staring at Rey. He felt a spark of annoyance that this little Omega had put up a wall between them, even though it was the very same one he’d begun building. 

He was so messed up. Did he want her or not? Could he be the Alpha Rey needed or would he let her down, ruining her life with bitter memories of a contentious marriage? 

Ben recalled the look in his mother’s eyes almost twelve years ago now, the one that said he was a disappointment just like his father, unable to care for the sweet little Omega child wriggling in his arms. He then remembered Maz’s words. She’d warned him not to let his past get in the way of future happiness. Was he being his own impediment to a life with Rey?

He’d told Jannah that Hux was broken, but what was he? Just as damaged with a temper that required constant management and Alpha idiosyncrasies liable to turn him into a monster. Rey deserved better.

“I’m thinking about doing a different course at school,” she said unexpectedly.

He should have been grateful for the change in subject, but Ben knew this was Rey moving on without him. Planning a future that didn’t include his presence. 

“What will you do?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“Law,” she said brightly. “You were right to suggest I’d chosen social work because it made Leia happy. I need to stop living for other people, so I asked myself what it was I really wanted. I’d love to work with Omega advocacy groups and an understanding of the law would be useful. I’ve been looking through the school website and found a whole bunch of pre-law subjects. My college is a feeder school to a university in Hosnia Prime with an incredible law faculty…”

“Hosnia?” Ben said, taken aback.

And he realised he’d been depending on Rey to remain in Jakku, a town he could visit on the weekends. She’d be waiting in her blue bedroom, hazel eyes adoring, her lithe little body clad in lingerie he’d bought her. Always available to him.

“It’ll mean changes around here, but Paige is only a few months younger than I am and will be able to take over as legal guardian of the girls while I’m away. What do you think?”

He looked into her shining gaze and realised she still longed for his approval. He wrestled every Alpha instinct that wanted to command her to stay accessible to him.

“That sounds amazing, Rey,” Ben replied, his heart shredding. 

Had he just made the biggest mistake of his life?


	24. Rewrite An Ending Or Two

It was her twenty-first birthday and Ben was gone.

Rey stared at her image in the bathroom mirror. She’d just had another crying fit and was bathing her eyes in cold water to reduce the redness. It didn’t matter how many times she told herself Ben wasn’t meant for her, how often she reminded herself his entire purpose for being in Jakku was to ensure her family remained unified, it still hurt that he was gone. 

He’d done everything she’d asked of him and more. So much more. He’d poured his finances into making their house a dream home, not only giving it a fresh coat of paint but replacing fixtures and buying them extra indulgences. He’d funnelled so much money into their household expense account that her sisters were able to save their salaries, shoring up their finances. The girls still reminisced about the day they went shopping for new party dresses with Ben.

Even her time playing Omega to his Alpha had been a revelation. Being with Ben impacted her self-esteem, making her realise her designation was more than a prison sentence. It was who she was fundamentally and that was a beautiful thing. He’d accepted her completely, delighting in her Omega frailties, reintroducing her to her own body and providing pleasure that was flawless in its execution. She would never find another lover like him. 

Her eyes filled with fresh tears and Rey drew a shaky sigh. So much good had come from being with Ben Solo, so why did every breath without him hurt so bad?

She missed him, she missed him, she missed him. There was an ache in her heart that refused to leave. She’d flooded her room, crying until she thought she could cry no more, and yet the tears still came. 

Rey asked for a quiet day in with just her sisters. She didn’t want a party or visitors- she couldn’t stand the idea of slapping a smile on her face when all she wanted to do was curl up in a corner of her wardrobe. 

She could smell butter and sugar and knew Paige had baked her a cake. Still, she didn’t want to leave her room, the beautiful blue bedroom that had been a gift to her from Ben.

“Happy birthday!” her sisters called out in a chorus as she entered the kitchen.

There were balloons and streamers everywhere, and a shiny rainbow banner declaring it was her special day. 

“Should we wait for Ben before we cut the cake?” Paige asked after they’d all sat down at the dining table and she’d placed the beautifully iced creation in front of Rey.

“He’s gone, Paige,” Rey said quietly. 

Her sister frowned. “I know Ben had to rush back to Coruscant to sign important documents, but he said he’d return in time for your party.”

Rey felt a headache develop behind her right eye. “Ben called me last night to say he’d be running late, and I- I told him not to come back.” 

There was stunned silence.

“I don’t understand,” Rose spoke up. “Why would you say that?”

Rey realised she was gripping the handle of the cake knife so hard her knuckles had turned white. “Ben already has his laptop and I told him I’d send his suitcase back with Poe the next time he visits Paige. It’s easier this way.”

“How is this easier?” Rose demanded, still astounded.

Rey lifted her eyes from the shiny silver tablecloth someone had thoughtfully laid out, her lips quivering. “It’s easier for me,” she said woodenly. “I can’t do it. I didn’t want Ben back for one night before he left me for good. This way he’s already gone.”

“Alpha isn’t coming back?” Kaydel wailed, looking like she might burst into tears.

Rey slammed her open palm on the table, making her sisters jump. “Don’t you dare make this about yourself, Kaydel,” she hissed. 

The little blonde shrank in her seat and Rey knew she’d never been spoken to that way before.

Jannah ran out of the room, making Rose’s jaw drop open. “That was unexpected.”

But the brunette wasn’t long gone, returning with something clutched in her hand. Rey barely had time to wonder what it was when Jannah threw a sheaf of paper clippings on the table before her. Rey gasped out loud.

“Where did you get these?” she asked, her voice higher pitched that usual, her hands scrambling to collect the cuttings before anyone else saw.

“Where they’ve always been,” Jannah said, her voice hot with anger, “inside the ballerina jewellery box Leia gave you all those years ago.”

“Why…?”

“Enough, Rey!” Jannah yelled, making the other girls stare. “Why can’t you admit the truth? Tell everyone what you’ve been hiding.”

Rey felt sick to her stomach. She remembered how grateful she’d been when Jannah began purchasing glossy magazines despite Leia’s disapproval. The society pages often had photos of Ben at this gala or that charity ball, and when Jannah was finally done with the publications and tossed them into a bin, Rey would fish them out again and cut out the images of Ben, taking care to remove all traces of whichever stunning Beta female he happened to be dating at the time.

Yup, she had it bad. Serial killer bad with her collection of photos in a box.

“This isn’t fair,” Rey said, heart pounding in her chest.

“Do you want to know why I supported you when you said you were going to take care of Ben’s Alpha needs?” Jannah asked. “Because of those. You’ve been in love with Ben Solo for years, Rey, and when you told us about the arrangement, I thought good for you- you’re finally doing something for yourself.”

Rey stood to her feet, hands clenched and eyes watering. “How dare you?” she asked Jannah. “How dare you humiliate me this way…”

“How dare you?” Jannah snapped back. “Come on, Rey, are you really going to let Ben walk away without a fight?”

“He doesn’t want me!” Rey hollered, making Kaydel scuttle behind Rose. “Do you think we haven’t had a discussion about this? He doesn’t want me and he doesn’t want the burden of a committed relationship.” 

“Then he’s an idiot,” Jannah declared, “and you need to show him the error of his ways.”

“It’s that easy, is it?” Rey snarled, feeling like she was about to explode. “All I have to do is draw Ben a picture and he’ll realise how he feels about me.”

“Jannah’s right.”

The two girls stopped yelling to stare at Paige, who was also on her feet. 

“What?” Rey asked in disbelief.

“It’s obvious there’s love between the two of you, Rey. Even Poe thinks so.”

“You’ve been discussing Ben and I with Poe?” Rey screeched, losing control like she never had before. “You’re all a bunch of traitorous, no good, garbage breath Omegas…”

“What the hell is going on in here?”

The deep baritone cut through the yelling like a hot knife through butter, shutting up everyone with brutal efficiency. Ben stood in the kitchen doorway dressed in a sleek charcoal grey suit. His hair was swept back with some kind of pomade and he was wearing an earthy cologne that only complimented his woodsy Alpha scent. He looked gorgeous.

Rey smoothed down her chestnut red pigtails, desperately wishing she’d worn something nicer than her faded strawberry pink summer frock or had thought to apply balm to her chapped lips. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks- Ben was actually here, standing in her dining room doorway. What was he doing back in Jakku? 

“I came back for you, Omega,” he said, and the deep bass of his tone actually made her gush slick, damnit. She must have asked the question out loud.

“I told you not to return,” Rey said stiffly, ignoring her weeping Omega instincts. “You should have listened to me.”

“All of you, get out,” Ben said, his tone almost conversational, and yet Rey watched her sisters abandon her as quickly as their legs could carry them.

Rey stared at Ben in his elegant suit, looking so perfect, and her knees turned to water. How could any of them have thought Ben was meant for her? She sat down abruptly, wishing she could vanish like smoke. She didn’t want to hear him let her down easy all over again.

To her surprise, Ben got on his knees beside her chair, taking her hands in his.

“Your fingers are always cold,” he said, rubbing them between his. “I never could understand why my biology made me run hot all the time and then I met you, Rey, and my heat had a purpose.”

She flushed, not understanding how Ben could be sweet at a time like this. Didn’t he know he was torturing her?

“Why did you come back?” she asked, her voice broken. “Couldn’t you have said goodbye from far away?”

He bent his head and kissed her fingers. “Rey, I’m here to confess something. Will you please let me speak?”

She chewed her lower lip, knowing this male was her kryptonite. She would give him anything he wanted, even to her own detriment. She nodded once.

“Sweetheart, it’s always been you,” he began abruptly, amber eyes fixed on her wet lashed hazel gaze. “Do you know why I only date Betas? Because you’re an Omega. Do you know why I went out with blondes? Because you had dark hair. Did it make sense to you that I never visited Leia at the house when she and I had a good relationship? It was because I was avoiding you. I couldn’t even linger after the funeral because your scent was driving me crazy.”

“Ben, what…?”

“I said yes when you asked me to come to Jakku because it meant I could finally be with you, Rey. Everything I’ve done since then has been motivated by my love for you- renovating the house, buying your sisters dresses, even caring for Kaydel.”

“Did you say love?” Rey asked, her voice as thin as a thread pulled taut.

“I love you, Omega,” he declared, “and it took me leaving Jakku to understand how much. Rey, I’ve been going crazy being apart from you and it’s only been two days. Do you realise I never asked whether you were on birth control? Every time we had sex, I secretly hoped I’d knock you up so I could slide into the role of your Alpha mate without ever having to work out my own feelings.”

“But what about everything you said about not wanting marriage or commitment?” Rey asked, her words coming out choked.

“Some Alpha I turned out to be,” Ben muttered. “I was afraid- afraid of ruining us with the wreckage of a broken relationship, afraid I couldn’t cut it as your mate. I didn’t want to end up like my parents, but I had to realise we’re not them. I’m barely my father and you’re definitely not my mother. Besides,” he said with a wry smile, “not having you with me was making me more aggressive. Poe and Hux threatened to tranquilise me yesterday after you told me not to return. I was concerned about turning into an Alpha monster around you but it’s your presence that soothes the beast.”

“Oh, Ben,” she whispered

“Don’t cry, baby,” he murmured, kissing wet cheeks. 

Rey touched her face. She hadn’t been aware of her tears. Alpha loved her, wanted her, longed to make her his mate. Was this even real?

Ben reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out a black velvet box. “This is why I called last night to tell you I’d be delayed,” he said tensely. “I wanted to get you a special gift and it took a while to arrive from Alderaan.”

Rey opened her present with shaking hands. The ring was exquisite, a skinny platinum band encrusted with tiny white diamonds and showcasing not one but two large stones, both brilliant cut, the bigger one a blazing white diamond and the other the most beautiful, sparkling blue.

“Do you know how rare blue diamonds are?” Ben asked, sliding the band onto her finger. “About as rare as the little Omega female who bewitched me when I was just eighteen-years-old.”

Rey wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his neck, unable to control her overflow of emotions.

“So you’ll marry me?” he asked, his tone teasing. 

“Yes,” she declared, her voice muffled by the collar of his shirt. 

He kissed her and she responded enthusiastically. Before Rey knew it, Ben had unzipped his pants and bent her over the dining table, thrusting into her from behind, torn fragments of her panties tangled between his fingers. She climaxed in a series of high pitched cries before she heard her Alpha ask:

“Um, Rey, why are there paper clippings of me all over the floor?”


	25. Growing Stronger Each Day

_One year later…_

“Did you hear about Jannah’s latest exploit?”

Ben Solo groaned out loud and his Omega mate giggled helplessly, turning him on despite the question.

“What did she do now?” he asked resignedly.

Rey had greeted him at the door wrapped in a black silk robe. The triplets were with their grandfather on the lower level of the luxury penthouse, though Han had Kaydel and Ben’s old butler Threepio as backup babysitters if needed.

His father pretended to be tough, but the grandchildren had him licked. Kira was the oldest of the three by six minutes, as fierce as Leia had ever been, Padmé was a sweet little flower who loved cuddles, of which Han provided plenty, and Luke was a bundle of mischief, happiest when he was climbing the nearest piece of furniture.

Ben had mated Rey the very night he proposed to her, taking her back to their bedroom and sinking his teeth into her plump little gland. After that, things had changed rapidly for Rey and her sisters.

They remained in Jakku only until the end of the school term, after which Ben moved the five girls to Coruscant and into his apartment. He and Rey were married in an intimate ceremony, surrounded by her sisters, his two best friends and his father Han. Once their extended honeymoon ended, Rey transferred her college credits to Coruscant University and was now finishing her law degree part time. 

It didn’t take long for Poe to make up his mind about Paige, begging for her hand in marriage. The pretty brunette was far more self contained than anyone ever gave an Omega credit for, but Poe’s devilish charm and persistent wooing finally won the day. Paige insisted they remain close to her family, however, and Poe purchased an apartment in the same building as Ben’s.

The sisters saw each other every day and only grew closer now that Paige had given birth to twin girls. Poe bought a shotgun the same day his daughters took their first breath in the world. He knew what kind of men were out there- he’d been one of them once. 

Rose was in Hosnia Prime studying to become a mechanical engineer. She called every evening to spend time with her nephews and nieces. The last Ben heard she was still in touch with Finn, though they were separated by distance. 

Kaydel lived with Rey and Ben most of the time, still viewing Ben in a paternal light, though she sometimes visited Paige and Poe’s apartment. She was finishing her schooling in Coruscant and had already made a host of new friends. 

As Hux predicted, Jannah joined a school of design. She was studying fashion and learning to craft exquisite clothes. She chose to stay on campus since it suited her independent nature best. Her relationship with Hux remained tempestuous to say the least. The last Ben heard they’d ended things after a screaming fight that resulted in broken crockery and a scandalised restaurant clientele.

Rey watched Ben slide off his suit jacket and hang it up in their bedroom closet. “Poe let slip in Jannah’s presence that Hux’s ex, you know, the married one, was trying to get her claws back into him.”

Ben swore out loud. “Let slip, did he?” he asked sarcastically.

“Poe does like to meddle,” Rey smirked, “and none of us want Hux in a toxic relationship.”

“True,” Ben muttered, tugging off his tie and letting Rey tuck it away for him as he worked on his cuff links. “Jannah is definitely the lesser of two evils.”

“You sister-in-law will be so pleased to hear you call her that,” Rey laughed. “Anyway, Jannah put on the most scandalous little black dress, I mean the skirt on this outfit was almost indecent, and the bodice might as well have been a bikini top, and invaded his office. The other woman, Jessika, I think, was in there and Jannah proceeded to mount Hux in front of her.”

Ben snorted, unable to help himself. “I take it Jannah and Hux are back together?”

“They’re talking about moving in together,” Rey beamed. 

Ben rolled his eyes but he’d learnt not to voice his misgivings when it came to those two, not unless he wanted to annoy Rey. “How long do we have?” he asked, his shirt hanging open to reveal his broad chest, already slipping off his shoes. 

“All night, Alpha,” Rey murmured, undoing the front of her robe. “Kaydel promised to keep an eye on the kids once Han went to bed, and you know Threepio hovers over them worse than any helicopter parent.” 

Ben sighed with pleasure as he took in the sight of Rey’s slim form in a sheer lace bralette and miniscule thong panties the deep red of expensive wine. Her skin was still a golden tan that made his mouth water, her chestnut hair in three buns that they both knew wouldn’t last the night. 

He undid the buckle of his belt, watching Rey flinch then blush as he snapped the leather strap. “Now what shall I do with you?”

He kissed her like a man on a mission, which he was, his hunger for this Omega continuing unabated. He was as obsessed with her now as he’d been when they first met. He tried not to rip her lingerie since it was such a pretty colour, his fingers undoing hooks and peeling snug lace over the curve of her hips so her panties puddled on the carpet. 

Rey wasted no time wrapping little fingers around his thick cock, giggling and cooing as she played with his dick, kissing and fondling the swollen pole, smudging her strawberry gloss lips all over rigid flesh. She wrapped her lips around his bulging head and suckled before travelling down the shaft and flicking her tongue over his big balls. She gazed up at him, doe-eyed and adorable, smiling as she ran her wet mouth over his manhood. 

“Tonight’s the night, Alpha,” she said at last, when his cock was throbbing so hard it seemed to have a life of its own.

He blinked when she got onto the bed and laid back on a mound of soft pillows, sliding her arms under her knees and holding her legs wide open, presenting him with her honey drenched cunt and puckered pink hole. Ben growled low, his cock twitching at the sight. Rey was determined to have him screw all her openings and they’d spent many a night priming her ass with his tongue and multiple fingers, using her own endless drizzle of slick as lubricant. 

“Baby, are you sure?” he asked, though he was already approaching, getting on his knees before her nude body. 

“Yes, Alpha,” she said, breathing heavily and looking flushed as he moved on top of her.

She clenched a little as he prodded her pert ass with the fat tip of his cock, moaning softly when he pushed harder, biting her lips as she readied herself for him. Ben gently eased himself inside her silken bottom, wedging his thick shaft within the hot, tight confines of Rey’s elastic chute, working slowly and pausing whenever she needed it. After several sweaty minutes, her toes curled and her back arched as he thrust his prodigious cock all the way inside. Hazel eyes widened and she tried to scream but all that came out was a piteous whimper.

Ben momentarily closed his eyes, almost overcome with pleasure. He caressed Rey’s silken breasts and pinched tight nipples, reaching down to stroke the prominent bud of her clit with his thumb until he felt her shudder and relax. He leaned over her, steadying one foot for the big push. Her ass felt incredible wrapped tight around his cock, the sensation so poignant he was dizzy with bliss. 

“Ready, Omega?” he groaned.

“Y-yes, Alpha,” she stammered. “Please fuck me.”

He lost control, sliding his big dick in and out of her slowly at first and then with increasing speed, her gushing slick wetting his cock more and more with every thrust. He pumped good and hard until his ears were numb from her cries and whimpers. Her lithe body twitched and shook under him as she orgasmed explosively, and he couldn’t help himself, climaxing as well, filling her full of creamy white seed.

“That’s my girl,” he groaned, sliding his arms under her shivering form and holding her close. “You did so good, sweetheart.” Her arms wrapped around his neck as he eased out of her hole, spilling goo all over fresh sheets. 

Ben was ready to try something else like cuddling when Rey declared, “You didn’t knot me, Alpha.” She sounded quite put out and he chuckled. 

“I think we’ve done enough for tonight…”

But she slipped out of his embrace and rearranged herself on the bed, getting on all fours and eagerly presenting her cream-filled ass. “You’ve warmed me up, Alpha. This time will be better.”

Ben was ready to disagree when Rey reached around and spread open her shiny cheeks. He hardened quickly and straddled her hips, thrusting his cock straight up her bottom. She accepted him more readily, becoming used to the intrusion and even pushing her ass back into his pounding loins. She bit down on a pillow and he thrust even deeper inside her pert bottom, grunting as her tight passage nibbled and massaged his cock, making him come a second time in quick succession.

He eased out of her clenching passage and sprawled on his back, surprised when his Omega slid atop him. Two tugs of her little hand and he was erect once more. She planted her buttocks on his cock and slid all the way down, like a perfectly matched glove for his stiff shaft. After she’d wriggled and whined into a comfortable position, she leaned back on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her, holding tight as he pumped his hips upwards, enjoying her hot, snug ass. She rolled her hips and he followed her motions, letting his cock grind and thrust inside her. 

“Alpha, more,” she whimpered, and he reached down and pushed three fingers into her sopping wet cunt, rubbing her off in orgasm after orgasm as they ground their hips together.

Her body trembled on top of his and they both came hard, Ben howling when he popped a knot, the dark bulge pushing inside Rey’s creamy ass. She squealed joyfully and he continued stroking her buzzing clit, making sure she was experiencing more pleasure than pain. He spurted so much seed into her that when his knot finally receded and he lifted her off himself, warm globs of cream fell onto his belly and thighs. Rey didn’t let it go to waste, lapping up the mess, cleaning him off with her eager mouth. 

“Holy hell, Omega,” he groaned at last when she’d rolled into his chest.

Rey gave a soft giggle followed by a contented sigh. “We should do that again,” she mumbled, “before my belly becomes too swollen with our next litter of pups.”

He chuckled, pressing tender kisses on her eyelids and cheeks and lips. “Promises, promises.”

As Rey curled close, her head on his chest, drawing comfort from his heartbeat, Ben tightened his hold around her. Who knew he’d be married and mated to the sweetest, smartest, most desirable Omega around? Certainly not him. 

He still believed it was perilous loving Rey, his Omega, with their explosive pheromones and demanding designations, their roiling emotions like a dust storm swallowing up the sky, and yet he also knew that this was the safest place for him to be, surrounded by her love and their family, secure in the knowledge they were each other’s reason for being. 

His mother would be proud.

**Author's Note:**

> I keep coming back to the ABO universe, though this is the fluffiest version I’ve conceived of yet. I started writing this story because I wanted something quick and easy to punch out, but it grew longer than expected. I wanted to give all of Rey’s ‘sisters’ their due, which takes words and chapters. 
> 
> My chapter titles come from the song “She Used To Be Mine” which breaks my heart every time I hear it. Sara Bareilles- who wrote the music and lyrics- is quoted as saying, “I think everybody can relate to the idea that no matter where you ended up, you ended up different than you thought you would.” This is a story about two people learning to take the chances life gives them so they end up different than they thought they would, but in a good way. 
> 
> My title comes from poet Lang Leave: “It feels bittersweet to love you, as though time has already run its ruinous path and everything good is over before it begins. It feels perilous to love you, like a dust storm swallowing up the sky or a comet skimming the stratosphere. But it is an honor to love you. Like the snow drifts giving way to spring, I will hold you for as long as I can.”
> 
> I hope you enjoy. Xoxo


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